The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Aug 2023

Real Pet Food Co (RPF) is a 29-year-old Australian pet food company producing fresh, chilled and frozen dog and cat food under roughly 17 brands, including Ivory Coat, Billy + Margot, Trilogy, Fussy Cat and Dr. B’s, and operating six manufacturing plants in Australia. RPF positions itself as the largest independent pet food manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand and among the top 20 globally. In June 2023 the company received an equity investment of US$161.2 million (about A$242 million) from its existing Asia‑Pacific investors to expand its chilled pet food business. The participating investors were Temasek, food‑space private equity firm Hosen Capital and China’s New Hope Group; those investors first became RPF’s owners in 2017 when they bought the company from Quadrant Private Equity. RPF says it will use the proceeds to hire additional strategic personnel and launch more products to maintain its market leadership in fresh, chilled and frozen pet food for dogs and cats. The company’s manufacturing footprint and brand portfolio underpin its stated roadmap to expand chilled offerings and preserve market leadership.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2020

Flexiv builds adaptive robots that use proprietary force-sensing technology and embodied AI to operate in unstructured environments and perform delicate, contact-rich tasks. After nearly a decade of development, the company has developed a scalable robotics portfolio that includes robot arms, grippers, AMR platforms, and delta robots. Flexiv has established a strong presence in North America and China and is expanding operations into Europe and additional Asian markets. The company plans to use its latest strategic investment to expand R&D capacity and accelerate its global sales and service infrastructure build-out. The financing, led by Invus with participation from existing investors, reflects investor confidence in Flexiv’s long-term growth trajectory.

Participated · Series C · Nov 2015

Wepiao operates a mobile ticketing and marketing/distribution platform that serves films, shows, sports and other pan‑entertainment verticals. The company reports coverage of more than 4,500 cinemas and reaches 90% of moviegoers, and entered over 1,200 theaters, stadiums and exhibition pavilions within a year and a half. Wepiao participates across the film industry chain via IP development, investment & production, mobile marketing and Internet distribution, leveraging big data on entertainment consumers to inform content and production. In shows and sports it functions as a connector between industry and consumers, organizing mainstream Chinese music festivals, itinerant exhibitions and significant promotional projects. It has a partnership with Window on Sports on marketing and ticketing. Related funds under Weying include over RMB 3 billion raised by Weying Capital and a RMB 2 billion Weying‑Noah Cultural Industry Fund; Weying Capital plans to invest in films, shows & exhibitions, sports and make equity investments across the industry chain. Weiying Technology runs WePiao, a movie-ticket booking platform embedded in WeChat and accessible through QQ that lets users buy tickets using payment information stored in their accounts. The integration with Tencent properties simplifies purchases and leverages existing payments to aid monetization and user retention. According to CEO David Lim, the company sold 4 million tickets despite launching just eight months earlier. WeChat claims 500 million monthly active users, providing a large distribution channel for the app. The broader Chinese market is expanding rapidly: online ticket payments grew 42.9% and mobile-paid bookings jumped 109% in 2014 (Entgroup). The company has raised external capital, including a recent Series B, to support its growth.