Dalton Venture Selected as First-Batch Fund Manager for Hong Kong's Optimized Innovation and Technology Venture Fund Scheme

Background

Hong Kong's innovation and technology capital ecosystem is welcoming a new wave of market-oriented fund managers. On April 23, 2026, the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced the provisional results of the first batch of fund managers selected under the optimized Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF) scheme. Among 65 applicants, Dalton Venture Hong Kong Limited was selected as one of the nine inaugural fund managers.

As the only organization in this first cohort with a mainland China headquarters in the Yangtze River Delta region, and the only fund manager focused exclusively on life sciences, Dalton Venture's selection in this rigorous review process demonstrates the firm's depth in vertical industry expertise and cross-border resource integration capabilities. It also marks the entry of the company's first Hong Kong fund project into the implementation phase.

This selection round was highly competitive. The ITC conducted a systematic, multi-dimensional assessment of fund managers covering their background and team experience, investment strategy and processes, historical investment performance, and their industry networks and support capabilities in Hong Kong and globally. The evaluation framework aligns closely with the due diligence standards used by mainstream international institutional investors (LPs) when screening funds, placing it at a relatively high level among Asian government-backed fund-of-funds.

The selection results further indicate that under this policy framework, professional institutions specializing in life sciences, with cross-border resource integration capabilities, and back-office operations meeting international compliance standards, are becoming the priority market-oriented fund managers being brought into Hong Kong.

Under the ITVF optimization plan, the Hong Kong SAR Government will participate as a limited partner and, through a "market capital + government matching" mechanism, guide social capital toward local I&T enterprises. Within this institutional framework, fund managers with cross-border fundraising capabilities and industry integration capacity have become one of the important focal points of this selection round.

Statement from ITC Spokesperson

"The ITC is pleased to collaborate with these nine fund management companies to jointly promote investment in startups in strategically significant industries. By leveraging the experience of professional fund managers, the optimized scheme will attract more market capital, provide greater financing and other support for startups, and further enrich the local I&T ecosystem. We expect the selected fund managers to complete market fundraising as soon as possible, so as to match government funds for market deployment, enabling the fund to commence operation and invest in technology startups at the earliest opportunity."

Regarding this mechanism, Dalton Venture stated that it will actively advance fund operations across market-oriented fundraising, project investment, and industry enablement. While leveraging the multiplier effect of government-guided capital, the firm will provide sustained support to strategically significant technology enterprises, driving their technology translation and industrial commercialization.

Hong Kong Accelerates Toward Global I&T Capital Hub

In recent years, Hong Kong has been steadily strengthening its strategic positioning as an international innovation and technology center.

On the capital side, the Hong Kong stock market has gradually recovered, with renewed appetite from international long-term capital allocators. On the institutional side, policies such as the ITVF and the RAISe+ University-Industry Collaboration "1+" Scheme have been rolled out successively, creating systematic support spanning capital matching, research commercialization, and industrial landing. On the supply side, research systems represented by HKUST, The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong have continued to incubate and commercialize local research outcomes or introduce mainland enterprises, exporting globally competitive frontier technologies.

Overall, Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem is accelerating its upgrade from "research strengths" toward "industrialization and capitalization capabilities," gradually becoming a critical hub connecting China's technology innovation with global capital.

This phase bears strong resemblance to the path of science and technology innovation development that Shanghai and other mainland regions have traversed over the past decade-plus. Based on its forward-looking assessment of this trend, Dalton Venture established its Hong Kong presence early and has pursued a strategy of "early entry, early rooting, early positioning" to make sustained, deep commitments. The firm has systematically connected research, policy, and industry resources to build first-mover advantage in the new I&T cycle.

Focusing on "AI + Life Sciences"

Positioning in High-Barrier Innovation Directions

The "Dalton Venture Hong Kong Life and Health Technology Fund" (tentative name; hereafter "Dalton Venture Hong Kong Fund"), to be managed by Dalton Venture Hong Kong Limited, will focus on Hong Kong's three priority industry directions, concentrating on the core track of "AI + Life Sciences." It will specifically target high-barrier applications of artificial intelligence in life and health industries including brain science, high-end medical devices (with emphasis on ophthalmology), synthetic biology, and drug discovery. These fields are generally characterized by high technical barriers, long R&D cycles, and high industrial value density, and are at critical junctures where technological breakthroughs intersect with clinical and industrial demand.

In terms of investment model, the Dalton Venture Hong Kong Fund will build "cross-border synergy" as its core capability: on one hand, leveraging top research institutions including HKUST, The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's 15 State Key Laboratories to access cutting-edge technology at its source; on the other hand, combining with mainland China's mature industrial system, clinical resources, and vast market to enable rapid technology translation and scaled application. Simultaneously, it will utilize Hong Kong's international capital markets and compliance framework to provide diversified exit pathways for enterprises, forming a "technology—industry—capital" closed loop.

Four Years of Hong Kong Positioning,

Building Cross-Border Capability Infrastructure

Dalton Venture's Hong Kong positioning is not a phase-specific choice but a sustained commitment based on long-term strategic judgment.

Since 2022, Dalton Venture established its Shenzhen office and gradually expanded its local team, increasing coverage of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Over the past several years, the company has invested in 10+ enterprises in the Greater Bay Area, building stable project accumulation and industry connection foundations.

On this basis, the company has simultaneously advanced systematic engagement with Hong Kong's research institutions, industry platforms, and regulatory systems, and initiated preparation for its Hong Kong fund. In 2025, Dalton Venture hosted a CEO Summit in Hong Kong, collaborating with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, InvestHK, and other institutions to drive resource synergy, and facilitated the landing of 10+ portfolio companies at Hong Kong Science Park.

With the launch of the Dalton Venture Hong Kong Fund, Dalton Venture will further refine its regional positioning on top of its existing investment foundation: combining Hong Kong's research and capital advantages with the Greater Bay Area's industrial system to enhance technology translation efficiency and form more complete regional synergy and service capabilities.

Dalton Venture has now substantially completed the establishment of its Hong Kong localized operations system, providing an internationally standardized fund operations framework for fund execution and international capital engagement.

Using Hong Kong as Leverage Point,

Connecting Global Capital with Chinese Technology Innovation

Over the past decade-plus, regions represented by Shanghai have achieved the leap from research strengths to industrialization and capitalization capabilities on the back of complete industrial systems; Hong Kong today possesses similar foundations. As factor flows within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continue to optimize and institutional coordination strengthens, the linkage potential between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta is accelerating its release, gradually opening new development space for Hong Kong.

Going forward, Dalton Venture will further open the channel connecting international capital with Chinese technology innovation assets: on one hand, providing global institutional investors with professional allocation pathways to participate in China's life and health innovation and frontier technology; on the other hand, helping globally competitive enterprises access international capital markets to achieve cross-cycle growth.

Against the backdrop of continued reshaping of the global technology and capital landscape, Dalton Venture will continue to build on long-term capital, focus on high-barrier innovation fields, drive research outcomes from laboratory to industry, and realize value release in broader international markets.

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