Three sectors to watch for growth opportunities in China
Edith Yeung, a fund manager with 500 Startups, says she’s upbeat on education, health care and entertainment in China
Edith Yeung, the newly-appointed Greater China partner of venture fund 500 Startups, has her sights set firmly on three industries in mainland China – education, health care and entertainment.
Yeung, who is taking over the Greater China market from Rui Ma, was previously based in San Francisco as partner of 500 Startups’ Mobile Collective, a micro-fund that invested in mobile app start-ups.
“China now allows two kids per family, it used to be just a one-child policy,” said Yeung, noting the massive opportunities in China’s education space. “Just that alone is a big macro trend for education.”
“There is a really big opportunity in two key areas – one is for education for younger children, and secondly, top notch US education in areas such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), where children are trained in areas such as coding,” Yeung said. “Chinese parents have a lot of respect for US education.”
According to a report by Deloitte, the Chinese education market is expected to almost double from 1.6 trillion yuan in 2015 (US$232.63 billion) to 2.9 trillion yuan by 2020.
Yeung said that she was more interested in investing in “business-to-business, vertical-driven” companies, as opposed to direct, consumer-facing services, which face more challenges in succeeding.