BANGALORE -- A venture fund co-run by Lei Jun, founder of China's Xiaomi, has turned its attention to India's internet, betting that demand for content in local languages such as Telugu and Tamil will soar as rural communities are increasingly connected to the web.
Shunwei Capital, which backed Chinese unicorns such as video app developer ByteDance, streaming service iQiyi and electric-car maker NIO, raised $1.21 billion late last year to invest in the South Asian nation, especially in startups offering local-language content. The firm is led by Lei and Tuck Lye Koh, formerly with Singapore government wealth fund GIC Private.
