The "anxiety" of Jingwei Ventures: prudent investment in mobile internet breakout focus games

One day in mid-April, the CEOs of more than 100 companies assembled in a closed-door meeting in Hangzhou's Xixi wetland for the first time in the history of China to gather and meet the CEO of all the projects it invests in.

Jingwei Venture is one of the largest dollar funds invested in the mobile Internet investment. Friends of the Union, Mo Mo, Camera360, Dolphin Browser, business card almighty Wang, pocket shopping, and many other well-known mobile internet companies, behind the fund's shadow flashed.

The common feature of these companies is that they have a huge user base, but the potential for revenue has not been released enough. The whole investment circle is talking about whether a company like Mo will become the next internet giant or become a new investment trap. Invest in these mobile internet companies VC, how will the future exit?

"Now I can't tell you clearly how big the mobile internet companies we're investing in, but most of the company's core data is growing fast and keeping it healthy." "In the face of this reporter's question, Jingwei founding management partner Zhang Ying explained," Although we have invested in many mobile internet companies, but we are more cautious about the mobile internet, it is clear that the mobile internet explosion has a long time. ”

Bet on mobile internet

Three or four years ago, when smartphones such as the iphone, HTC G1, and so on, began to sneak up in China, the investors of Zhang Ying and Jingwei began to lay the wave.

Zhang Ying rarely participates in the investment Circle party, seldom communicates with his peers, and receives very little media interviews. In the eyes of his colleagues, he is a workaholic, sometimes busy, he will sleep directly in the office, but sometimes he will squeeze out time to the African month to ride a motorcycle.

Mobile Internet in China may take three or four years to finish the PC Internet 10 years road. "Jingwei has never asked an entrepreneur how you think about making money." Wan Haoki, a partner of Jingwei Ventures, points out that the idea of latitude and longitude continues the classic routine of the Internet--with users thinking about revenue.

In terms of investment, the Fund is also full of American style--Jingwei has almost weekly summaries of recent key investment and entrepreneurial cases in the U.S. market, and then quickly looks for a corresponding industry in China to find the right entrepreneur after deciding whether it is suitable for China.

According to this idea, Jingwei first invests in the Portal class mobile Internet application, for example Dolphin Browser, later invests the game, the social class mobile internet company, as well as the business card omnipotent King, the flight steward, Camera360 such tool class app company, most invests in the angel and a round such early investment.

In the period around 2010, Jingwei Investment mobile Internet project is crazy, now, its hand already has more than 50 mobile internet companies, on the mobile Internet investment volume, no other funds can be latitude and longitude of its right.

The layout of Jingwei on the mobile internet has initially formed a system that includes the portal class of app companies, as well as the most user-like apps, mobile Internet data companies, mobile gaming companies, etc.

Wan Haoki pointed out that, but to this point in the mobile Internet and the development of the Internet has begun to sync, the Internet experience on the mobile internet has not been much value, the industry needs some new play.

There is another common feature of these mobile internet projects: There are few money-burning companies. For example, the number of users who broke through 30 million of the social application company, the most expensive marketing fee was spent on social media marketing early, only more than 1 million yuan.

In this respect, Wan Haoki explained, Jingwei's whole fund style is conservative, not too much like other dollar funds to hold up high dozen, to gamble some projects.

Liquidity problem

At this point in the early 2013, the mobile Internet is experiencing a bottleneck. Mobile internet companies, represented by app apps, are stuck in the lurch of traffic.

In previous years, Jingwei VC internal will be discussed at the beginning of the year's focus on investment direction, this year, the latitude and longitude of the internal relatively rarely set a clear investment direction.

"Although we have invested in many mobile internet companies, we are more cautious about the mobile internet," he said. "Zhang pointed out that he is very clear that the outbreak of mobile internet is still more and more in the game, as the Tools app, mobile social, O2O and other mobile internet branches when it is difficult to say.

The reason why he made such a judgment, I am afraid, is partly also from the deterioration of U.S. capital markets, as the Vie outbreak, the Chinese concept of integrity issues, the U.S. market for the Chinese concept stocks in a downward spiral, Chinese companies in the U.S. listing began to become increasingly difficult.

In the opinion of Zhang Ying, the market value of 1 billion dollars is like a hurdle--in America, many excellent level two market funds do not pay attention to 1 billion dollar stocks below the market value, even if you are outstanding. So he advised the company not to reach 1 billion dollars, do not easily go to the U.S. market.

Looking back at the dozens of of mobile internet companies that have invested in latitude and longitude, it is hard to see which one has the hope of becoming a 1 billion-dollar company. Jingwei early years of investment in mobile gaming companies, such as Ifree, Egls and so on, are now very lucrative. However, it is difficult for gaming companies to go public separately.

Jingwei Investment Flight Butler, Camera360 and other tools such as app, as well as the social type such as Mo Mo, although now has a large number of users, but did not find a good way to the flow of liquidity.

Tencent CEO Ma recently pointed out that mobile Internet traffic is difficult to become the world's problem, not only in China, in the United States, Japan, South Korea's mobile internet traffic is not smooth. In addition, the tool app also has to beware of Tencent, 360 and other giants of the impact.

In addition, Jingwei began to see a lot of mobile internet to transform the traditional industry projects, that is, people often speak of O2O. According to this kind of thinking, Jingwei invested in the mobile phone to look for car driver's project-Ide Drive, and hope to replicate such experience to many other traditional industries.

But Zhang Ying told reporters that for the O2O category of projects, in fact he is more pessimistic, because it is difficult to find the right founder. The ideal founder, should be from the traditional industry out, but also the internet's mind, such people in China very few.

Wan Haoki told reporters that this year Jingwei focused on mobile internet-related enterprise applications, as well as mobile internet software and hardware combined with related companies. The former will devote more energy.

In the case of independent large listing in the foreseeable future, to sell the giant may be a better way, such as Jingwei investment in the Mo introduced Alibaba investment, valued as high as 200 million U.S. dollars, the recent circle in the vibe of the Union will be 80 million U.S. dollars to sell the price of Alibaba.