(Yicai) Sept. 13 -- The Guangzhou Angel Fund of Funds penned agreements with some prospective investment and sub-fund projects and 43 key universities and research institutes during its latest investment conference.

Guangzhou Angel FOF has completed investment decisions for two sub-funds and seven direct investment projects and reserved over 150 direct investment projects since its late June setup, Yicai learned at the conference yesterday. It has also formed communication and cooperation mechanisms with 26 universities, 32 research institutes, and over 60 investment institutions in China.

Guangzhou Finance Holdings Group, an affiliate of the local government, established Guangzhou Angel FOF with a scale of CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion). The fund focuses on "investing in early-stage, small-scale, and hard-tech ventures" and aims to fully utilize financial instruments to support technological innovation and help innovators achieve the first step of technology commercialization.

Guangzhou Angel FOF will adopt a strategy of selecting the best among the best when choosing investment targets, Liu Kai, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Jinkong Fund Management, which is the operator of Guangzhou Angel FOF, told Yicai on the sidelines of the conference. It will collaborate closely with innovative startups, universities, and research institutions to identify and invest in cutting-edge tech projects, Liu added.

The investment scope of Guangzhou Angel FOF will be on strategic emerging and future industries, with particular attention to innovative projects still in the seed and angel stages, the fund noted. By utilizing a diversified approach including master-feeder structure and direct investments, it will actively attract long-term, private and foreign capital to jointly participate in technology innovation projects, it added.

Guangzhou Angel FOF will focus on artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, biomedicine, and other areas in the future, Li Yuanqing, executive deputy director of Pa Zhou Lab, a research institution backed by the local government that specializes in AI and digital technologies and that signed a deal with the fund at the conference, said to Yicai.

Several Chinese local governments have established their technology investment angel funds to accelerate the market application of excellent innovative technologies this year. At the start of this month, the Shanghai government set up Future Industry Fund for CNY10 billion to attract external capital participation and build a long-term investment ecosystem for innovative projects.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev