Mainland companies raised a total of US$3.2 billion from venture-capital investments in the first half of the year, fuelled by interest in social media firms and other internet companies in the world's second-biggest economy.
That amount was generated from about 145 deals from January to June, which was in line with deal activity in the same period last year, according to venture-capital industry tracker Dow Jones VentureSource.
It estimated that the median size of venture-capital deals in the second quarter rose 50 per cent year on year to reach US$10.5 million, while the median size of deals in the first quarter climbed 20 per cent to hit a record US$15 million.
In a report, VentureSource said 69 deals made in the consumer-services category raised US$1.7 billion in the first half.
Investment in that industry was driven by interest in the internet-heavy consumer information segment, which includes social media, entertainment and shopping companies. These companies raised US$942 million through 44 deals in the first half of the year, more than triple the amount raised in the 23 deals in the same period a year ago, VentureSource said.
Leading online group-buying-services operator Lashou.com, for example, brought in US$110 million in its round of fund-raising in April. GSR Ventures, an early-stage venture-capital firm focused on China, was joined in the fund-raising by Milestone Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Tenaya Capital.