Tag: technology entrepreneurs

Posted on

Evolution Equity Partners closes on $400M for new cybersecurity fund

Evolution Equity Partners is targeting cybersecurity and enterprise software companies for its new Evolution Technology Fund II LP for which it announced Thursday a final closing totaling $400 million.

The fund was oversubscribed and included new and returning institutional investors, corporates and family offices from the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Richard Seewald, managing partner at Evolution, said via email that the firm, based in New York City, Palo Alto, London and Zurich has made 12 investments from the new fund so far. He expects to invest in 20 to 25 companies overall.

Richard Seewald, Evolution Equity Partners

Richard Seewald, managing director of Evolution Equity Partners. Image Credits: Evolution Equity Partners

Investments will range from $10 million to $50 million in early- and growth-stage companies focused on cybersecurity, machine learning, big data and SaaS to build market-leading platforms.

A few of the investments from Evolution Technology Fund II include quantum encryption company Arqit-Quantum, fraudulent money detection company Quantexa and digital asset protection company Unbound Security.

Seewald and Dennis Smith, both technology entrepreneurs, started the firm in 2008 and have made 42 investments to date. Evolution currently has more than $1 billion of assets under management.

The cybersecurity market presents a compelling opportunity over the next decade and even longer, due to the sophistication of hackers and criminals increasing over the past few years, “creating material unquantified risk to our economy and society,” Seewald said. The current environment of accelerated digitalization and remote work “has created an unprecedented attack surface.”

“Our approach to cybersecurity is being reassessed to address a redefined world,” he added. “It’s not only the traditional cybersecurity stack that is salient in order to protect our digital world, it’s also security and antifraud categories relating to blockchain, quantum computing, identity protection amongst others. Integrating these segments offers the potential to tilt the scale in our favor and to the detriment of our adversaries. Evolution invests in segments traditionally identified as cybersecurity as well as adjacent categories that together are defined as ‘Technology that Safeguards our Digital World.’”

How to ensure data quality in the era of big data

 

Posted on

Dear Sophie: Any advice for getting media coverage for my startup?

Sophie Alcorn Contributor
Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.
More posts by this contributor

Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”

Extra Crunch members receive access to weekly “Dear Sophie” columns; use promo code ALCORN to purchase a one- or two-year subscription for 50% off.

Dear Sophie,

I’m an entrepreneur working on building up my qualifications for the EB-1A green card (or maybe an O-1A).

Toward that goal, I’ve been trying to get media coverage about my startup, but it’s competitive out there! Any advice?

— Craving Coverage

Dear Craving,

Thanks for reaching out! Yesterday was the six-year anniversary of my law firm, and shortly after I founded it, I set a personal challenge: to achieve the level of success that would qualify me (if I needed a U.S. green card) to meet the EB-1A criteria as a person of “extraordinary ability.” What right did I have to expect this of my clients if I couldn’t achieve it myself?

Starting from scratch (my kids were young, I had taken a multiyear career break, and I didn’t have a network in Silicon Valley), it took me about two years to reach this level of success (and it was also a great marketing plan for my firm).

So, I know this from experience: Achieving the level of success required for an EB-1A or O-1A is totally possible. And remember, you only need to meet at least three of the criteria to qualify!

A composite image of immigration law attorney Sophie Alcorn in front of a background with a TechCrunch logo.

Image Credits: Joanna Buniak / Sophie Alcorn (opens in a new window)

Offer your expertise

The key is to be strategic about getting media coverage. Know the audience of the trade publication or major media outlet where you’re seeking coverage and figure out the type of stories that get their interest.

Generally, reporters like to be the first to break news or to get an exclusive story, so consider offering a scoop about a significant multimillion-dollar deal involving your company or a story idea, such as an emerging trend in your field or a unique perspective on a big issue, to one reporter to start. If that reporter isn’t interested, move on to another.

One service that can help technology entrepreneurs is EllisX, which helps founders get coverage for their startups in articles and podcasts and secure speaking engagements. Or you can try to cultivate a relationship on your own with a journalist who writes about your field. Offer yourself as a resource to explain new developments or challenging issues in your field. I took this approach when I began working on meeting the EB-1A criteria, and I soon found myself being quoted as an expert on immigration in publications around the globe — and that led to me writing this weekly column!

Remember, for O-1A and EB-1A immigration purposes, newsletters and press releases that were never published in a major publication, as well as articles in student-run or university publications, usually don’t count.

Posted on

Clim8 raises $8M from 7pc Ventures, launches climate-focused investing app for retail investors

Ethical investing remains something of a confusing maze, with a great deal of ‘greenwashing’ going on. A new UK startup is hoping to fix that with the launch of its new app and platform for retail investors.

Clim8 Investhas raised $8 million from 7pc Ventures (early backers of Oculus, acquired by Facebook),  British Business Bank Future Fund and a numbers of technology entrepreneurs and executives including Marcus Exall (Monese), Marcus Mosen (N26),  Paul Willmott (Lego Digital, McKinsey), Doug Scott (Redbrain), Matt Wilkins (Thought Machine), Andrew Cocker (Skyscanner), Steve Thomson (Redbrain), Monica Kalia (Neyber, Goldman Sachs), Doug Monro (Adzuna), Erik Nygard (Limejump). 

Consumers will be able to invest in companies and supply chains that are focused on tackling climate change. It will be competing with similar startups in the space such as London-based Tickr (backed by $3m from Ada Ventures), Helios in Paris, and Yova in Zurich.

Duncan Grierson, CEO of Clim8 said in a statement: “We are launching at an exciting time for sustainable investing. 2020 was an exceptional year for environmentally-focused investment offerings, as investors looked harder at climate-related opportunities. Sustainable investments have continued to outperform markets since the beginning of the Covid-19 Crisis and we believe this will continue.”

Grierson has 20 years of experience in the green space and was a winner of the EY Entrepreneur of Year Cleantech award.

The startup will take advantage of new, higher EU rules around the disclosure requirements for sustainable investment funds. Users can choose between either stocks and shares ISAs (up to £20k) or a taxable general investment account.

Posted on

Eight Roads Ventures Europe shifts its gears towards diversity, appointing Lucile Cornet to Partner

The world of European VC can post another win for diversity this week as Lucile Cornet is appointed Partner with Eight Roads Ventures Europe, a firm focusing on startups in Europe and Israel. Cornet is its first female Partner. Eight Roads is backed by Fidelity and has over $6 billion assets under management globally.

Cornet will be focusing on the software and fintech sectors and previously led a number of investments for the firm, having risen from Associate to Partner within five years. It’s an out of the ordinary career trajectory when VC is notorious for having a ‘no succession’ culture, unless partners effectively buy into funds.

Cornet commented: “I am hugely optimistic about what is to come for European technology entrepreneurs. We are seeing more and more amazing founders and innovative businesses across the whole European region with ambitions and abilities to become global champions, and I look forward to helping them scale up.”

Speaking with TechCrunch, Cornet added: “I feel so, so fortunate because I think we’ve been living during a once in a lifetime transformation in general in tech and also in Europe. To build some of those companies, and just be part of the ecosystem has been fantastic. I know how much more exciting things are going to be in the next couple of years.”

Cornet previously led investments into Spendesk, the Paris-based spend management platform; Thinksurance, the Frankfurt-based B2B insurtech; and Compte-Nickel, one of the first European neobanks which was successfully acquired by BNP Paribas in 2017. She also sits on the boards of VIU Eyewear, OTA Insight and Fuse Universal.

France-born Cornet’s previous career includes investment banking, Summit Partners, and she joined Eight Roads Ventures in 2015. She was a ‘rising star’ at the GP Bullhound Investor of the Year Awards 2020.

Commenting, Davor Hebel, managing partner at Eight Roads Ventures Europe, said: “We are delighted with Lucile’s success so far at Eight Roads. She has made a huge impact in Europe and globally since joining the firm. She has a tremendous work ethic and drive… identifying the best European companies and helping them scale into global winners. Her promotion also speaks to our desire to continue to develop our best investment talent and promote from within.”

Speaking to me in an interview Hebel added: “We always believed in a slightly different approach and we say when we hire people, even from the start, we want them to have judgment, and we want them to have that presence when they meet entrepreneurs. So it was always part of the model for us to say, we might not hire many people, but we really want them to have the potential to grow and stay with us and have the path and the potential to do so.”

In 2020, Eight Roads Ventures Europe invested in Cazoo, Otrium, Spendesk, Odaseva and most recently Tibber, completed eight follow-on investments and exited Rimilia. The firm also saw its portfolio company AppsFlyer reach a $2 billion valuation.

Posted on

Snagging Pearson’s AR assets and $1 million in cash, GIGXR is ready for its close up

Meet GIGXR, the new owner of all of the assets of Pearson Immersive Learning Group, a subsidiary of the education and media publishing giant, Pearson.

Formed specifically to roll up Pearson’s virtual and augmented reality assets, GIGXR is helmed by David King Lassman, the founder of streaming media company Vyclone and the Southern Californian venture capital firm White Hart Ventures.

The serial entrepreneur had been in discussions with Pearson for the better part of a year to acquire the company’s VR and AR assets. Initially established as part of a collaboration with Microsoft back in 2014 when the company first began work on its Hololens, the media giant is spinning out the team as it explores the broader sale of certain assets.

The group has intellectual property for virtual and augmented reality training programs for hospitals, nursing schools and universities, according to a statement.

Based in Los Angeles, GIGXR now owns flagship products including HoloPatient and HoloHuman, mixed reality training programs for medical schools that operate on the new Hololens 2 headset.

“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with GIGXR on the heels of our release of HoloLens 2, which has been incredibly well received,” said Dan Ayoub, General Manager for Mixed Reality Education at Microsoft, in a statement. “Our collaboration with the GIGXR suite of applications and team of technology entrepreneurs and thought leaders will dramatically impact the way the world uses mixed reality solutions for enhanced learning now and into the future.”

Operating at the intersection of the $252 billion education market and the $61 billion extended reality industries, GIGXR is actually mining one of the few veins where virtual reality has found a real customer painpoint. As a training tool in enterprises, virtual and augmented reality headsets find themselves following a similar trajectory as Google’s trailblazing (and much maligned) Glass technology.

If there’s one place where emerging technology can be embraced, it’s in businesses where there’s an actual use case for the tech. Whether on the assembly line or in human resources training, companies are turning to virtual and augmented reality in ways that consumer buyers haven’t.

Indeed, Pearson customers including Texas Tech University, University of Queensland, Bucks County Community College, University of Canberra, University of Leeds and other campuses across the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom, will continue to receive support from GIGXR for their augmented reality-influenced curriculum.

Lassman said the company had raised $1 million in seed financing and would be seeking to raise additional capital in the first half of 2020.

Posted on

Africa Roundup: Local VC funds surge, Naspers ramps up and fintech diversifies

Jake Bright Contributor
Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa.
More posts by this contributor

Africa’s VC landscape is becoming more African with an increasing number of investment funds headquartered on the continent and run by locals, according to Crunchbase data summarized in this TechCrunch feature.

Drawing on its database and primary source research, Crunchbase identified 51 “viable” Africa-focused VC funds globally—defining viable as formally established entities with 7-10 investments or more in African startups, from seed to series stage.

Of the 51 funds investing in African startups, 22 (or 43 percent) were headquartered in Africa and managed by Africans.

Of the 22 African managed and located funds, 9 (or 41 percent) were formed since 2016 and 9 are Nigerian.

Four of the 9 Nigeria located funds were formed within the last year: Microtraction, Neon Ventures, Beta.Ventures, and CcHub’s Growth Capital fund.

The Nigerian funds with the most investments were EchoVC (20) and Ventures Platform (27).

Notably active funds in the group of 51 included Singularity Investments (18 African startup investments) Ghana’s Golden Palm Investments (17) and Musha Ventures (36).

The Crunchbase study also tracked more Africans in top positions at outside funds and  the rise of homegrown corporate venture arms.

One of those entities with a corporate venture arm, Naspers, announced a massive $100 million fund named Naspers Foundry to support South African tech startups. This is part of a $300 million (1.4 billion Rand) commitment by the South African media and investment company to support South Africa’s tech sector overall. Naspers Foundry will launch in 2019.

The initiatives lend more weight to Naspers’ venture activities in Africa as the company has received greater attention for investments off the continent (namely Europe, India and China), as covered in this TechCrunch story.

“Naspers Foundry will help talented and ambitious South African technology entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses,” said a company release.

“Technology innovation is transforming the world,” said Naspers chief executive Bob van Dijk. “The Naspers Foundry aims to both encourage and back South African entrepreneurs to create businesses which ensure South Africa benefits from this technology innovation.”

After the $100 million earmarked for the Foundry, Naspers will invest ≈ $200 million over the next three years to “the development of its existing technology businesses, including OLX,  Takealot, and Mr D Food…” according to a release.

In context, the scale of this announcement is fairly massive for Africa. According to recently summarized Crunchbase data, the $100 million Naspers Foundry commitment dwarfs any known African corporate venture activity by roughly 95x.

The $300 million commitment to South Africa’s tech ecosystem signals a strong commitment by Naspers to its home market. Naspers wasn’t ready to comment on if or when it could extend this commitment outside of South Africa (TechCrunch did inquire).

If Naspers does increase its startup and ecosystem funding to wider Africa— given its size compared to others—that would be a primo development for the continent’s tech sector.

If mobile money was the first phase in the development of digital finance in Africa, the next phase is non-payment financial apps in agtech, insurance, mobile-lending, and investech, according to a report by Village Capital covered here at TechCrunch.

In “Beyond Payments: The Next Generation of Fintech Startups in Sub-Saharan Africa,” the venture capital firm and their reporting partner, PayPal, identify 12 companies it determined were “building solutions in fintech subsectors outside of payments.”

Village Capital’s work gives a snapshot of these four sub-sectors — agricultural finance, insurtech, alternative credit scoring and savings and wealth — including players, opportunities and challenges, recent raises and early-stage startups to watch.

The report highlights recent raises by savings startup PiggybankNG and Nigerian agtech firm FarmCrowdy. Village Capital sees the biggest opportunities for insurtech startups in five countries: South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria.

In alternative credit scoring and lending it sees blockchain as a driver of innovation in reducing “both transaction costs and intermediation costs, helping entrepreneurs bypass expensive verification systems and third parties.”

The Founders Factory expanded its corporate-backed accelerator to Africa, opening an office in Johannesburg with the support of some global and local partners.

This is Founders Factory’s first international expansion and the goal is “to scale 100 startups across Sub-Saharan Africa in five years,” according the accelerator’s communications head, Amy Grimshaw.

Founders Fund co-founder Roo Rogers will lead the new Africa office. Standard Bank is the first backer, investing “several million funds over five years,” according to Grimshaw.

The Johannesburg accelerator will grow existing businesses through a bespoke six-month program, while an incubator will build completely new businesses focused on addressing key issues on the continent.

Founder Funds will hire over 40 full-time specialists locally, covering all aspects needed to scale its startups including product development, UX/UI, engineering, investment, business development and, growth marketing. This TechCrunch feature has more from Founders Fund management on the outlook for the new South Africa accelerator.

More Africa Related Stories @TechCrunch

How a Ugandan prince and a crypto startup are planning an African revolution

Marieme Diop and Shikoh Gitau to speak at Startup Battlefield Africa

Flutterwave and Ventures Platform CEOs will join us at Startup Battlefield Africa

African Tech Around the Net

A lot is happening at Flutterwave right now—[E departs] 

Amazon Web Services to open data centres in Cape Town in 2020

Vodacom Business expands its fixed connectivity network in Africa

SA’s Sun Exchange raises $500k from Alphabit

IBM, AfriLabs partner to expand digital skills across 123 hubs in 34 countries

Victor Asemota to lead VC firm Alta Global Ventures’s business in Africa

Bank, local hub launch $1-million fund for Somali startups

Posted on

Africa Roundup: Local VC funds surge, Naspers ramps up and fintech diversifies

Jake Bright Contributor
Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa.
More posts by this contributor

Africa’s VC landscape is becoming more African with an increasing number of investment funds headquartered on the continent and run by locals, according to Crunchbase data summarized in this TechCrunch feature.

Drawing on its database and primary source research, Crunchbase identified 51 “viable” Africa-focused VC funds globally—defining viable as formally established entities with 7-10 investments or more in African startups, from seed to series stage.

Of the 51 funds investing in African startups, 22 (or 43 percent) were headquartered in Africa and managed by Africans.

Of the 22 African managed and located funds, 9 (or 41 percent) were formed since 2016 and 9 are Nigerian.

Four of the 9 Nigeria located funds were formed within the last year: Microtraction, Neon Ventures, Beta.Ventures, and CcHub’s Growth Capital fund.

The Nigerian funds with the most investments were EchoVC (20) and Ventures Platform (27).

Notably active funds in the group of 51 included Singularity Investments (18 African startup investments) Ghana’s Golden Palm Investments (17) and Musha Ventures (36).

The Crunchbase study also tracked more Africans in top positions at outside funds and  the rise of homegrown corporate venture arms.

One of those entities with a corporate venture arm, Naspers, announced a massive $100 million fund named Naspers Foundry to support South African tech startups. This is part of a $300 million (1.4 billion Rand) commitment by the South African media and investment company to support South Africa’s tech sector overall. Naspers Foundry will launch in 2019.

The initiatives lend more weight to Naspers’ venture activities in Africa as the company has received greater attention for investments off the continent (namely Europe, India and China), as covered in this TechCrunch story.

“Naspers Foundry will help talented and ambitious South African technology entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses,” said a company release.

“Technology innovation is transforming the world,” said Naspers chief executive Bob van Dijk. “The Naspers Foundry aims to both encourage and back South African entrepreneurs to create businesses which ensure South Africa benefits from this technology innovation.”

After the $100 million earmarked for the Foundry, Naspers will invest ≈ $200 million over the next three years to “the development of its existing technology businesses, including OLX,  Takealot, and Mr D Food…” according to a release.

In context, the scale of this announcement is fairly massive for Africa. According to recently summarized Crunchbase data, the $100 million Naspers Foundry commitment dwarfs any known African corporate venture activity by roughly 95x.

The $300 million commitment to South Africa’s tech ecosystem signals a strong commitment by Naspers to its home market. Naspers wasn’t ready to comment on if or when it could extend this commitment outside of South Africa (TechCrunch did inquire).

If Naspers does increase its startup and ecosystem funding to wider Africa— given its size compared to others—that would be a primo development for the continent’s tech sector.

If mobile money was the first phase in the development of digital finance in Africa, the next phase is non-payment financial apps in agtech, insurance, mobile-lending, and investech, according to a report by Village Capital covered here at TechCrunch.

In “Beyond Payments: The Next Generation of Fintech Startups in Sub-Saharan Africa,” the venture capital firm and their reporting partner, PayPal, identify 12 companies it determined were “building solutions in fintech subsectors outside of payments.”

Village Capital’s work gives a snapshot of these four sub-sectors — agricultural finance, insurtech, alternative credit scoring and savings and wealth — including players, opportunities and challenges, recent raises and early-stage startups to watch.

The report highlights recent raises by savings startup PiggybankNG and Nigerian agtech firm FarmCrowdy. Village Capital sees the biggest opportunities for insurtech startups in five countries: South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria.

In alternative credit scoring and lending it sees blockchain as a driver of innovation in reducing “both transaction costs and intermediation costs, helping entrepreneurs bypass expensive verification systems and third parties.”

The Founders Factory expanded its corporate-backed accelerator to Africa, opening an office in Johannesburg with the support of some global and local partners.

This is Founders Factory’s first international expansion and the goal is “to scale 100 startups across Sub-Saharan Africa in five years,” according the accelerator’s communications head, Amy Grimshaw.

Founders Fund co-founder Roo Rogers will lead the new Africa office. Standard Bank is the first backer, investing “several million funds over five years,” according to Grimshaw.

The Johannesburg accelerator will grow existing businesses through a bespoke six-month program, while an incubator will build completely new businesses focused on addressing key issues on the continent.

Founder Funds will hire over 40 full-time specialists locally, covering all aspects needed to scale its startups including product development, UX/UI, engineering, investment, business development and, growth marketing. This TechCrunch feature has more from Founders Fund management on the outlook for the new South Africa accelerator.

More Africa Related Stories @TechCrunch

How a Ugandan prince and a crypto startup are planning an African revolution

Marieme Diop and Shikoh Gitau to speak at Startup Battlefield Africa

Flutterwave and Ventures Platform CEOs will join us at Startup Battlefield Africa

African Tech Around the Net

A lot is happening at Flutterwave right now—[E departs] 

Amazon Web Services to open data centres in Cape Town in 2020

Vodacom Business expands its fixed connectivity network in Africa

SA’s Sun Exchange raises $500k from Alphabit

IBM, AfriLabs partner to expand digital skills across 123 hubs in 34 countries

Victor Asemota to lead VC firm Alta Global Ventures’s business in Africa

Bank, local hub launch $1-million fund for Somali startups

Posted on

Naspers announces $300 million initiative to support startups and tech in South Africa

Jake Bright Contributor
Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa.
More posts by this contributor

Naspers announced a $100 million Naspers Foundry fund to support South African tech startups. This is part of a $300 million (1.4 billion rand) commitment by the South African media and investment company to support South Africa’s tech sector overall. Naspers Foundry will launch in 2019.

The initiatives lend more weight to Naspers’ venture activities in Africa as the company has received greater attention for investments off the continent (namely Europe, India and China).

“Naspers Foundry will help talented and ambitious South African technology entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses,” said a company release.

“Technology innovation is transforming the world,” said Naspers chief executive Bob van Dijk. “The Naspers Foundry aims to both encourage and back South African entrepreneurs to create businesses which ensure South Africa benefits from this technology innovation.”

After the $100 million earmarked for the Foundry, Naspers will invest ≈ $200 million over the next three years to “the development of its existing technology businesses, including OLX, Takealot, and Mr D Food…” according to a release.

In context, the scale of this announcement is fairly massive for Africa. According to Crunchbase data recently summarized in this TechCrunch feature, the $100 million Naspers Foundry commitment dwarfs any known African corporate venture activity by roughly 95x, when compared to Safaricom’s Spark Venture Fund, Interswitch’s E-Growth Fund, and Standard Bank’s several million dollar commitment to Founder Factory.

Naspers is one of the largest companies in the world—85th by its $108 billion market cap, just after Nike—and one of the world’s largest tech investors.

Aside from operating notable internet, video, and entertainment platforms, the company has made significant investments in the Europe, India, Asia, and South America. In 2018 Naspers invested $775 million in Germany’s Delivery Hero, $124 million in Brazilian e-commerce company Movile, and added $100 million to its funding to Indian food delivery site Swiggy.

Naspers was also an early investor in Chinese tech group Tencent, selling $10 billion in shares this year after a $32 million investment in 2001.

The South African media group has invested less in (and been less successful) in Africa, though that comparison comes largely by contrast to Naspers’ robust global activities.

One of Naspers early Africa investments, Nigerian e-commerce startup Konga, was sold in a distressed acquisition earlier this year.

The company recently added to around $70 million to its commitment to South African e-commerce site Takealot. And in perhaps a preview the company was shifting some focus back to Africa, Naspers made one of the largest acquisitions in Africa this September, buying South Africa’s Webuycars for $94 million.

The $300 million commitment to South Africa’s tech ecosystem signals a strong commitment by Naspers to its home market. Naspers wasn’t ready to comment on if or when it could extend this commitment outside of South Africa (TechCrunch did inquire).

If Naspers does increase its startup and ecosystem funding to wider Africa— given its size compared to others—that would be a primo development for the continent’s tech sector.

Posted on

China’s Xiaomi makes underwhelming public debut in Hong Kong IPO

China’s Xiaomi, the world’s fifth biggest seller of smartphones, made an underwhelming public debut after it hit the Hong Kong Stock Exchange amid concerns around an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.

Media reports in the lead up to today’s bell ringing suggested that eight-year-old Xiaomi was shooting for a valuation of as much as $100 million. In the end, it had to settle for a more modest $54 million valuation as it raised $4.7 billion from the IPO.

CEO Lei Jun acknowledged that “global capital markets are in constant flux” thanks to tensions between Beijing and the White House, which has seen trade tariffs levied on each side. However, Lei — one of China’s most successful technology entrepreneurs — said that the situation doesn’t diminish his belief in his business.

“Although the macroeconomic conditions are far from ideal, we believe a great company can still rise to the challenge and distinguish itself,” he said in a speech at the listing ceremony.

Xiaomi enjoyed an understated debut. The stock opened at HK$16.60, below the list price of HK$17, and it quickly fell to HK$16 before later recovering. Its closing share price for the first day of trading was HK$16.78.

Data via Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Aside from global market concerns, investors are said to have been unsure of Xiaomi’s ecosystem story. The company pitches itself as going beyond devices to offer internet services, such as video streaming, although it has yet to see significant revenue in the services category.

Prior to listing, Xiaomi pledged to keep its gross margin to just five percent to ensure that its products are well priced for consumers, but that requires the company to find other ways to monetize and that’s where the services play is aimed. Xiaomi also offers a long-tail of products developed by third parties, such as tech like smart speakers and non-tech items that include bags and pens, which it sells directly to its consumer base using its e-commerce sites and ‘Mi’ brand.

Finally, another core push is its international expansion plan.

China continues to account for the bulk of its revenue, although that is dropping. For 2017 sales, China represented 72 percent, but it had been 94 percent and 87 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively. One market it has made significant progress in is India, where it was recently ranked the top smartphone seller thanks to a strong brand.

However, it’s unclear how the firm has performed in other markets in Asia and whether it can succeed in Europe, where it has made a push in recent months. The U.S. market is another key challenge that Xiaomi has yet to find a solution for, despite Lei Jun and other executives claiming it’ll enter the country before the end of next year.

You can read more about the Xiaomi business and IPO plan in our review below:

Xiaomi officially files for Hong Kong IPO to raise a reported $10 billion