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BeijingMay 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — BAI Capital today announced the first close of its new U.S. dollar fund, targeting a total size of $800 million, with the first close reaching $600 million. Against the backdrop of increasingly cautious global capital allocation and a renewed focus on commercial validation and execution capability in growth investing, this first close reflects institutional investors’ recognition of BAI Capital’s long-term performance, deep accumulation in the Asian tech ecosystem, and global investment capabilities.
Since its founding in 2008, BAI Capital has navigated an 18-year development journey, achieving a cumulative total of 22 IPOs and 51 M&A and transfer exits. Along the way, BAI has continuously iterated its investment methodology and organizational capabilities in a changing market environment, gradually forming a more distinct institutional positioning: focusing not only on innovation itself, but also on how innovation can transcend geographical boundaries to grow into a long-term value creator truly oriented toward the global market.
The new fund will continue BAI Capital’s strengths in growth investing, primarily seeking companies that have already completed commercial validation and possess cross-regional expansion potential. Specifically, BAI Capital will deploy its strategy around three types of opportunities: first, new growth platforms emerging from the overseas expansion of leading Chinese companies; second, global enterprises that start from Asian native innovation and gradually move toward multinational operations; and third, international companies with globally leading innovation capabilities that can leverage the Chinese market to achieve scaled growth. Industry directions will cover areas including technology and AI, financial services, consumer and entertainment, and enterprise services.
In BAI Capital’s view, today’s growth investing is fundamentally about identifying high-quality companies that have already achieved technology validation, customer validation, and commercial validation, and leveraging stronger global judgment and higher-quality shareholder synergies to help these companies truly expand their growth into broader markets.
Long Yu, Founding and Managing Partner of BAI Capital, said: “We are deeply grateful for the continued trust and steadfast support from both new and existing investors. Today’s investment environment demands more validation, execution, and discipline than ever before. The core of BAI’s new fund is not chasing early-stage concepts, but supporting companies that have already completed technology, customer, and commercial validation in highly competitive markets and possess cross-regional expansion capabilities. We believe that the technological capabilities, business models, and organizational efficiency honed in Asia, particularly in the Chinese market, are becoming significant sources of global growth. What BAI aims to do is to help these validated innovations enter larger markets and grow into companies with true global competitiveness.”
BAI Capital has long been deeply rooted in China’s technology and industrial ecosystem, while also continuously expanding its global perspective and cross-regional capabilities. Leveraging its partner network built over many years—particularly deep collaborations with global technology leaders and strategic industry partners, as well as Bertelsmann’s global network and industrial resources—BAI has gradually formed a platform advantage that combines local insights with global synergy capabilities.
Bertelsmann is a media, services, and education company operating in around 50 countries worldwide, with more than 75,000 employees. The company achieved revenues of €19 billion in fiscal year 2025. Bertelsmann consistently represents creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, continuously creating first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire and deliver value to global customers. BAI Capital was formerly Bertelsmann Asia Investments, a subsidiary of the Bertelsmann Group, and completed its first independent fundraising in 2021. Since becoming independent, BAI Capital has continued to leverage the Bertelsmann platform to provide value-added support to its portfolio companies.
Looking ahead, BAI Capital will continue to be rooted in Asia, connecting globally, with a more open vision and greater long-term patience, accompanying the next generation of companies as they grow into truly global enterprises.