Li Ka-shing shows strong backing for Hong Kong’s fintech sector with MioTech funding
Horizons Ventures, Li’s private investment arm, leads US$7m initial funding round for MioTech, a provider of artificial intelligence to asset management firms
Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, has given his strong backing to the city’s fast-growing financial technology start-up sector by investing in MioTech, a specialist provider of artificial intelligence (AI) for investors.
Horizons Ventures, Li’s private investment arm, led a US$7 million Series A funding round for MioTech, one of just a few Chinese tech companies in the firm’s portfolio.
The deal represents a major pivot for Horizons after it had largely focused on high-profile tech investments overseas, especially in the United States and Israel.
“We have invested in seven to eight fintech companies globally, including banks, insurance tech and asset management enterprises,” said a Horizons Ventures spokeswoman.
Some of Li’s highest-profile investments have been made through his namesake charitable foundation and later, via Horizons Ventures. These include social network behemoth Facebook, music-streaming service Spotify, augmented reality giant Meta and video gaming systems maker Razer.
With its funding of MioTech, Horizons Ventures has placed a strong bet on “one of the few start-ups in Hong Kong with a proven fintech product that can be successfully rolled out on the mainland and the rest of the Asia-Pacific”, company co-founder and chief executive Jason Tu Jianyu told the South China Morning Post.
Founded in June last year, MioTech provides an AI-powered investment management platform for asset managers via online subscription.