The FBI is investigating whether a US venture capital fund that used Chinese money to become one of Silicon Valley’s most prolific early investors allowed Beijing to obtain the trade secrets of tech start-ups.
California-based Hone Capital, which launched in 2015 with $115mn of initial capital from a Chinese private equity group, invested in 360 US tech start-ups in less than three years. This included acquiring stakes in driverless-car maker Cruise, payments group Stripe and aerospace engineer Boom.
The FBI is examining whether Hone Capital accessed information about the technology, finances or clients of start-ups for the benefit of its Beijing-based owner or Chinese authorities, said several people close to the matter.