Sequoia China to cut up to 20 per cent of its investment staff as fund flows into technology industry and start-ups slow to a trickle
- Sequoia China will cut its venture investment team from about 70 people, according to sources
- The move mirrors job cuts across China’s technology industry
Sequoia Capital China, widely viewed as a bellwether for Chinese tech investment, is set to lay off as much as 20 per cent of investment staff as a slowdown in the country’s tech sector saps appetite for risk, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
The Chinese arm of Silicon Valley venture capitalist Sequoia Capital is looking to cut the number of venture investment professionals from about 70, the people said. Two other people said the cut would be at least 10 per cent.
Sequoia China told Reuters it regularly reviews its workforce which may result in personnel adjustments.
“Within the last 12 months, we had 13 new investment professionals join Sequoia China, which slightly increased our total number of employees,” it said in a statement.
The lay-offs would come after a government campaign against debt financing left start-ups vying for shrinking pools of fresh capital. Meanwhile disappointing returns from firms going public amid market volatility has made investors bearish, resulting in down rounds – where a firm’s valuation in a round of fundraising falls below that of a previous round.