BrokerDealer.com blog extract is courtesy of New York Times Dealbook

SHANGHAI – James W. Breyer, the venture capitalist who made a fortune with an early bet on Facebook, is putting some of his winnings to work in China, partnering with Beijing-based venture capital firm to invest in Chinese technology start-ups.

IDG Capital Partners said on Wednesday that Mr. Breyer, a longtime partner at Accel Partners in Palo Alto, Calif., would advise and invest alongside a $586 million IDG fund that closed June 3. The fund is expected to make early stage investments in Chinese technology, media and telecommunication companies.

The announcement comes as interest soars in Chinese technology companies after two years of frenzied deal-making, much of it involving China’s Internet giants: Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent. Those three companies alone have spent more than $10 billion buying up start-ups and rivals during the last few years.

And with other technology highfliers here, including JD.com, the Chinese e-commerce company that recently raised $1.78 billion in its New York public listing, China has rapidly become a prime destination for the world’s biggest venture capital and private equity firms. Among the biggest and most active in China are Sequoia Capital, Qiming Ventures, SAIF Partners, IDG Capital Partners and Northern Light Venture Capital.

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Brokerdealer.com provides below extract courtesy of NY Times and reporter Amy Cortese.

Fundrise co-founders Daniel Miller (l) and David Miller. Photo courtesy of Vannessa Vick for the NY Times

Fundrise, a website that aims to draw in a broad range of investors to finance commercial real estate deals, has raised more than $31 million in its first round of funding from a group of prominent technology, real estate and other backers.

Fundrise, based in Washington, is a pioneer in real estate crowdfunding, allowing individuals to directly invest with as little as $100 in hotels, apartment buildings and other development projects. Until recently, even small-scale real estate projects typically had been the exclusive domain of wealthy investors and private equity firms.

The company was founded by two brothers, Benjamin and Daniel Miller, in August 2012, shortly after the JOBS Act legalized crowdfunding, although they began working on the concept as early as 2010.

The financing round was led by Renren, a large social networking company based in China. It is also being backed by several real estate firms and individuals including executives of Silverstein Properties, the owner and developer of the World Trade Center; Rising Realty Partners, a Los Angeles developer; the Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group; Scott Plank, a real estate developer and former Under Armour executive; and Richard Boyle, former chief of Loopnet, an online commercial real estate listing service. The Collaborative Fund, an investment fund, also participated in the round.

For the full story from the New York Times DealBook, please click here.

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