China’s HIHEY raises $100 million in series B funding
HIHEY.COM, the art trading website located in Beijing’s 798 art gallery district, has received a series-B investment of about US$100 million from CITIC Securities and Shenzhen Capital Group after obtaining an equity investment from China Minsheng Banking Corporation.
“The shareholder line-up has been proven to be the strongest among all companies that started up in 2014,” said the company in a release. “Both the strategic investment by China Minsheng Banking Corporation and the recent participation by CITIC Securities and Shenzhen Capital Group demonstrate the enormous attraction of the cultural and art segment as well as HIHEY’s competitive advantages and strong growth in the art e-Commerce sector.”
China Minsheng Banking Corporation, China’s largest privately owned bank, has provides art finance.
“All steps taken by the bank, including the first fund dedicated to investing in works of art, the first non-profit art museum sponsored by a financial institution and the first private bank art club, are revolutionizing the way that the financial and art worlds interact with each other,” said HIHEY in a statement.
CITIC Securities, with assets of 271.4 billion yuan (approx. US$44.2 billion), is the largest broker in Asia. Shenzhen Capital Group is the largest Chinese state-controlled venture capital investment group. The group has RMB30 billion (approx. US$4.9 billion) under management and has invested in 98 venture capital backed IPOs.
It has been named by zero2ipo.com as the No.1 venture capital firm in China for five consecutive years.
“HIHEY.COM has taken it upon itself to break the industry’s unspoken rules and bring stability to the art market via its open and transparent network platform, while creating value for its clients through ongoing technological innovations. As a result of these efforts, the company was not only the first art firm to obtain venture capital investment but is also the art e-commerce platform with the strongest shareholder lineup,” said the release.