The firm has new plans for its capital venture Jinqiu Ventures, by rebranding and changing the investment ratio.
ByteDance has changed its plan regarding the launch of VC brand Jinqiu Venture Capital (Chinese: 锦秋创投), with the name no longer being "Jinqiu" and adjusting its investment proportion.
ByteDance had planned to launch a new venture capital brand named Jinqiu Ventures in the second half of last year, and the latter will raise funds independently. A person close to the investment department of ByteDance said the company would invest USD 20 million in the new venture. However, the amount may be readjusted as the company eyes for a larger investment.
Zhou Shouzhi, TikTok Global CEO, had implicitly said that the company is unable to provide any further support for the new fund besides funding.
The change is crucial as investees now must reconsider their decisions. Previously, they benefited from the endorsement effect and resource tilt of ByteDance's businesses including Feishu and TikTok. Such cooperation will become more difficult with the change.
Currently, the fund has completed its registrations for WeChat Official Account and other platforms. And it is continuing to promote new projects.
The investment arm's decision to lay off triggered a public outcry back in January. ByteDance responded that "the company conducted an analysis of its business and decided to strengthen business focus, reduce investments with low synergy, disperse the staff into other business lines and strengthen the strategic research function with the business."
Through internal communication, Zhou pointed out that there are problems matching the department's strategic goals to that of the corporation for the next five years.