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Weijia Fu is a pioneer in China’s SF landscape. After transitioning from executive search to equity investment, he discovered the SF model during his MBA studies in the US and interned at Informed Capital, a U.S.-based SF, where he evaluated investment targets in the life sciences and clean technology sectors. After considering launching a SF in the U.S., he returned to China to gain additional management experience and, in 2024, launched a self-funded search. One year later, he completed a small BPO acquisition.
He then decided to partner with Kailin Deng, who brings extensive experience in equity investment, M&A, strategic planning, and consulting, to launch New Chapter Ventures, China’s first institutional investor dedicated to SFs.
New Chapter Ventures is just beginning the fundraising process for its first vehicle. This decision is driven by three key factors: the growing opportunities in China’s search fund market; the retirement wave of first-generation founders and the resulting family succession challenges; and relatively low equity valuations, characterized by low PE multiples and favorable bank financing costs following several years of interest rate cuts.
New Chapter Ventures will take a strongly local approach. Given China’s robust manufacturing base, relatively asset-light manufacturing sectors are expected to represent a major opportunity for SFs to take root in the Chinese market. These include precision component manufacturing and processing, as well as companies providing key non-standard parts for emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, medical devices, and robotics, particularly in regions such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.
The firm aims to back exceptional searchers with versatile skill sets: individuals proficient in deal sourcing, valuation, and transaction structuring, with strong operational capabilities, an entrepreneurial mindset, resilience, and even turnaround experience. Compared with hiring a traditional corporate executive, New Chapter Ventures places greater emphasis on entrepreneurship, resilience, and originality. The firm will support both traditional searchers and self-funded searchers, while also evaluating equity gap structures. New Chapter Ventures intends to be an active investor, providing the searchers it backs with value-added services such as business process outsourcing, executive search, and integrated audit and financial support. New Chapter Ventures also collaborates with AI experts to roll out productivity tools (e.g., AI workers) to searchers and portfolio companies, boosting both top-line and bottom-line growth.
