Zhen: China’s third-largest private equity firm CSC Group is helping fund an artificial intelligence incubator in Britain, the latestsign of a boom in Chinese tech investments abroad and of the tapping of the UK’s AI talent.
The Chinese state-backed fund, which has more than $12bn under management, has agreed a multimillion-pound partnership with British start-up incubator Founders Factory, led by serial entrepreneur and investor Brent Hoberman. Together, they will hire 60 people, invest in and grow five early-stage AI start-ups and launch two new companies from scratch each year.
“The UK has innovative artificial intelligence technology and China has a very big market and the business model innovation,” said Dania Zhou, senior managing director of CSC Group, who has been overseeing the deal. “We want to fuse the technology we find in the UK with the Chinese market.”