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MPG sets up new angel fund

By Zhang Ran (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-27 07:44

Swiss investment company Mountain Partners Group (MPG) yesterday announced that it would set up the first institutionalized angel fund in China that would focus on new and fast-growing companies.

The Taishan Angel Fund would be co-established by the Mountain Partners Group and Yang Lei, the managing director of Navi Capital.

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The first-round capital raised by this angel fund would be $20 to $30 million, it said yesterday.

Unlike traditional venture capital firms, which usually invest around $2-3 million in a company, the average amount that an angel fund invests in a single company would be around $500,000.

"The global financial crisis has pushed many venture capital and private equity firms to shift their investment focus from pre-IPO projects to start-up companies," Cornelius Boershch, founder of Mountain Partners said.

He said the Taishan Angel Fund would focus on recession-proof areas such as hi-technology, new media and telecommunications. The fund has so far invested in two hi-tech companies.

"Mountain Partners brings a proven angel investing business model, sufficient capital, advanced technologies and additional exit channels to the China market," Yang said.

Yang was the former CEO of Linktone, a NASDAQ-listed company. He revived the company fortunes and made it highly profitable within 11 months of taking over. He also got Linktone listed on the NASADQ, increasing the company's valuation by more than 20 times.

Cornelius Boersch and Daniel S Wenzel founded Mountain Partners Group in 2004.