Sequoia China (2005 to 2023)

In 2005, Neil Shen and Zhang Fan co-founded Sequoia China with under the guidance of Sequoia partners Michael Moritz and Douglas Leone. The two were selected by Sequoia to lead the firm's venture in China.^[2][3][1]

In 2009, Zhang resigned from Sequoia China for personal reasons leaving Shen to be entirely in charge of Sequoia China's operations. By that period, the firm had raised a combined $1 billion for three U.S. dollar-denominated China funds and 1 billion yuan for a local currency yuan-denominated investment fund.^[2][4]

Afterwards Sequoia China raised more money, mostly from US institutional investors and built a successful investment record which included companies such as Alibaba Group, JD.com, Meituan and ByteDance. Historically 90% of returns came from consumer, consumer tech and healthcare fields. No other US investment manager had same level of success in China as Sequoia China. By 2023, Sequoia China had invested in over 1,000 projects.^[1][2][3]

HongShan (2023 to present)

In June 2023, Sequoia announced that it would be splitting off Sequoia China as an separate entity and would be completed by 31 March 2024. This came at a time of rising tensions in China–United States relations where Chinese leaders did not want to see US investors reaping rewards from their companies and US leaders did not want to see money being used to invest in Chinese technology such as semiconductors. However Sequoia denied that rising tensions were the reasons for the split. Sequoia China would be rebranded as HongShan (a pinyin romanisation of its Chinese name, which means redwood) in English but its Chinese name remained the same. Going forward, the firm will be raising capital as a Chinese venture capital firm rather than as the Chinese arm of an American venture capital firm.^[2][1][5][6]

In July 2023, HongShan announced that had set up and office in Singapore and was making plans to use it as a base to invest in Southeast Asia. It was speculated that it would be competing with Peak XV Partners, the Indian and Southeast Asian investment arm of Sequoia China that was also split off in June 2023. HongShan has stated there are no plans to open an office in the US or in Europe.^[5][6]

In October 2023, the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition asked Sequoia in a letter to provide details about investments in artificial intelligence and other high-tech sectors made by it and HongShan. Members also questioned Sequoia if its decision to split-off HongShan would insulate some capital flows from US regulatory scrutiny. This was because HongShan relied on limited partners to finance deals so the split would not stop US institutional investors from continuing to invest in it. In addition, members also sated HongShan would be likely to scrap the national security screening mechanism that Sequoia had created to evaluate investments by its companies. Members also accused HongShan of funnelling US capital into investments that contributed to human rights abuses and military modernisation with examples being DeepGlint and ByteDance. Additional requests included identifying any limited partners domiciled in China or that manage funds for state-owned or affiliated entities and to confirm the number of HongShan's limited partners that are US investors. So far US limited partners were not targeted and institutional investors that invest in Hongshan are confident they can continue their relationship with HongShan after the United States Department of the Treasury finalises restrictions on outbound investment mandated by a executive order.^[1][7]

In November 2023, it was reported that despite scrutiny from US lawmakers, several new investors signed on with HongShan. They include CalPERS and University of Washington Investment Management. Existing investors such as CPP Investment Board and Regents of the University of California added additional commitments.^[1][6]