When the bosses of US video messaging app Tango were on the lookout for a strategic partner, they turned in the direction of Hangzhou, China – home of ecommerce company Alibaba.

当美国视频通讯应用Tango的老板们开始寻找战略合作伙伴时，他们将目光转向了中国的杭州——这里是中国电商集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的总部所在地。

Within weeks, Tango’s founders met Alibaba’s executive vice-chairman Joe Tsai, before selling a quarter of the company for $215m.

短短几周之内，Tango的创始人就和阿里巴巴的执行副董事长蔡崇信(Joe Tsai)举行了会面，并将该公司四分之一的股权作价2.15亿美元出售给了阿里巴巴。

Deals like this, where Asian capital goes into a young tech company from another part of the globe, are becoming increasingly common. The region is emerging as a key source of funding for the sector, putting Hong Kong and Singapore firmly on the map for tech start-ups seeking cash.

这种类型的交易——来自亚洲的资本投向了世界另一个地区的年轻科技企业——正变得越来越稀松平常。亚洲地区正在崛起成为科技行业的一个关键融资来源，香港和新加坡因此在科技初创企业寻求资金的地图上牢牢占据着一席之地。

Asian capital has historically flowed into tech investments through western private equity or venture capital funds. But Asian investors – both corporate and financial – are now more sophisticated, have bigger programmes, and are leading direct investments, says Daniel Wetstein, TMT banker for Morgan Stanley in Asia.

来自亚洲的资本过去主要通过西方私募或风险资本基金流入科技类投资项目。但摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)驻亚洲的TMT（科技、媒体和通信）行业银行家丹尼尔•维特斯坦(Daniel Wetstein)表示，亚洲投资者——不论是企业还是金融机构——现在变得更加精明老练，所投资项目规模更大，并且开始引领直接投资。

Temasek, Horizons Ventures, Alibaba, and Tencent – four of the main participants – have joined in private equity and venture capital deals worth $2.4bn so far this year, up from $1.7bn last year and just $186m in 2012, according to data compiled by Crunchbase.

Crunchbase收集整理的数据显示，淡马锡(Temasek)、维港投资(Horizons Ventures)、阿里巴巴和腾讯(Tencent)——其中的四家主要参与方——今年到目前为止所参与的私募股权和风险资本交易的金额已高达24亿美元，超过了去年全年的17亿美元，而2012年这一数据仅为1.86亿美元。

While still much smaller than Silicon Valley, that chimes with a broader tech sector M&A theme. Non-Japanese Asian acquirers have completed 678 deals this year worth more than $31bn, according to Dealogic, up from 554 deals worth $12bn over the same period last year. At 24 per cent of the global total, Asian groups are also taking their largest ever slice of the pie.

虽然这一规模仍然远远小于硅谷，却与整体科技行业中的并购主题相一致。Dealogic提供的数据显示，不包括日本企业在内的亚洲收购方今年到目前为止共完成交易678笔，价值超过310亿美元，而去年同期则完成交易554笔，价值120亿美元。亚洲企业在全球科技并购总量中所占比重已达24%，这是它们有史以来取得的最大份额。

Two of the biggest beasts, Chinese rivals Alibaba and Tencent, been aggressively taking stakes in companies around the world as soaring valuations give them freer access to financing. Tencent’s market capitalisation has risen from $60bn to $140bn in the past 18 months, while Alibaba’s initial public offering, set for later this year, could be the largest ever and value the company at more than $150bn.

规模最大的收购方中，有两家是互为竞争对手的中国企业阿里巴巴和腾讯。两者一直在姿态激进地收购世界各地企业的股权，因为自身市值的飙升给了它们更加自由的融资通道。在过去的18个月中，腾讯的市值从600亿美元上升至1400亿美元，而阿里巴巴将于今年晚些时候进行的首次公开发行可能成为有史以来规模最大的新股上市交易，目前市场对该公司的估值超过了1500亿美元。

Tencent’s recent deals include a $450m equity stake in Sogou, a Chinese search engine, along with investments in Plain Vanilla, an Icelandic games company, and US web platform Weebly.

腾讯近期的交易包括斥资4.5亿美元入股中国搜索引擎公司搜狗(Sogou)，对冰岛游戏公司Plain Vanilla以及美国网络平台Weebly的投资。

Alibaba too has become more active, investing in search engine Quixey, as well as Tango and taxi app Lyft. Both companies now have global acquisition teams staffed by former sector analysts and bankers.

阿里巴巴同样变得更加活跃，投资了搜索引擎Quixey，以及Tango和打车应用Lyft。阿里巴巴和腾讯现在都组建了全球收购团队，成员包括前行业分析师和银行家。

But the spending spree is not just industry groups buying stakes in companies for strategic reasons. Financial investors such as sovereign-backed funds have also stepped up a gear, wooed by the market performance of listed tech companies and the global race to find the next Facebook.

但这股投资热潮并不仅限于业内集团出于战略原因收购企业股份。主权财富基金等财务投资者推动这股浪潮进一步升温，吸引它们的主要因素在于上市科技公司的市场表现，以及寻找下一个Facebook的全球竞赛。

Temasek, Singapore’s state investment agency, is the most established player. Though active in investing in technology companies for a number of years, it has been building expertise in the sector as it eyes deals ranging from start-ups to public companies.

新加坡的政府投资机构淡马锡是最具资历的一家机构。通过多年来对科技企业的积极投资，淡马锡一直在积累科技行业的相关专业知识，其所关注的交易种类多样，从初创企业到公开上市公司都有涉猎。

Other sovereign-backed funds such as Khazanah of Malaysia, China’s CIC and Singapore’s GIC have also been showing increased interest in the sector, which some analysts expect to lead to more direct involvement.

其他主权财富基金，如马来西亚的国库控股(Khazanah)、中国的中投公司(CIC)、新加坡政府投资公司(GIC)，同样对科技行业表现出了越来越浓厚的兴趣。一些分析师预计，这种兴趣可能会催生出数量更多的直接投资交易。

Another well-known name is Horizons Ventures, the Hong Kong-based venture capital firm backed by Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest man. It was an early investor in Facebook, Spotify and Skype, and now “looks at” as many as 40 companies a week. Of its 56 investments to date, only three have been in Asia, with 17 in the US and 22 in Israel.

另一家市场知名度颇高的机构是维港投资，这家总部设在香港的风险资本公司隶属于亚洲首富李嘉诚(Li Ka-shing)旗下。该公司是Facebook、Spotify和Skype的早期投资方，目前每周“考察”的公司多达40家。在该公司迄今为止的56个投资项目中，只有3个位于亚洲地区，17个位于美国，还有22个位于以色列。

For the sellers, the equation is changing too. Asia, with China at its heart, is seen by many as a big growth opportunity for the tech industry, with Asian ecommerce, gaming, and messaging companies on the cusp of achieving true global reach.

对于股权出售方来说，其所面临的形势也在发生变化。在很多人看来，以中国市场为核心的亚洲地区，为科技行业提供了巨大的发展机会，亚洲的电子商务、游戏以及即时通讯服务公司很快就将真正具备开拓国际市场的能力。

As a result, company executives and founders around the world are “increasingly receptive” to potential suitors from the region, says Winston Cheng, TMT banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

美银美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)的TMT行业银行家Winston Cheng表示，由于这个原因，世界各地的公司高管和创始人对来自亚洲地区的潜在追求者正变得越来越乐于接受。

Juan Cartagena, founder of Traity, a website that manages online reputations, is a case in point. He says the chance to link up with an Asian investor – in this case Horizons – was simply irresistible.

线上声誉管理网站Traity的创始人胡安•卡塔赫纳(Juan Cartagena)就是一个很好的例子。他表示，与亚洲投资方进行合作的机会令人根本无法抗拒——投资Traity的亚洲机构正是维港。

“The access to Asia that we get through Horizons is massive – it builds our global footprint and helps us become a global company from day one,” he says. “Everybody knows that Asia is the next step for almost every start-up.”

他说：“我们通过维港获得的进入亚洲市场的通道非常可观——这使我们的足迹遍及全球，并从第一天开始就帮助我们成长为一家国际化企业。大家都知道，几乎任何一家初创企业都会把亚洲作为下一步发展重点。”

Gaining expertise is also a factor. Tango co-founder Eric Setton says Asia’s messaging market is now more advanced than in the west, with South Korea’s Kakao Talk, Japan’s Line, and Tencent’s WeChat increasingly active beyond their home markets.

学习经验也是一个重要方面。Tango的联合创始人埃里克•塞顿(Eric Setton)表示，如今亚洲的即时通讯市场已经比西方更加发达，韩国的Kakao Talk、日本的Line、以及腾讯的微信(WeChat)在各自本土市场以外的地区正变得愈发活跃。

For Tango, having a partner who truly understands the Chinese market made the tie-up with Alibaba “a slam dunk”, says Mr Setton.

塞顿表示，与阿里巴巴的合作使Tango拥有了一个真正理解中国市场的合作伙伴，堪称“大灌篮”。

Horizons Ventures – Finding potential in quirky technology

维港投资——发掘稀奇技术的潜力

Utah-based HZO has developed technology that will keep your mobile phone protected from water by coating it – inside and out – with an invisible layer of bonded molecules. Horizons invested in 2011.

总部设在犹他州的HZO开发出了一种技术，通过给手机从里到外覆上一层人眼看不见的分子保护层，使手机具备防水功能。维港投资于2011年投资该公司。

By turning plants into fake eggs, mayonnaise and other foodstuffs, Hampton Creek’s team of biochemists hopes to create healthier, more humane ways to eat, from its base in California. Horizons invested in 2014.

在Hampton Creek位于加利福尼亚州的总部，该公司的生化学家团队正在将植物转化成人造鸡蛋、蛋黄酱以及其他食品，希望通过这种办法创造出更加健康、更人道的饮食方式。2014年维港对该公司进行了投资。

Set up by two Canadian entrepreneurs, Shenzhen-based Nanoleaf is attempting to reinvent the lightbulb, using LEDs to make heat-free, low-energy lighting.

总部位于深圳的Nanoleaf是由两位加拿大企业家创办的。该公司致力于重新发明电灯泡，运用发光二级管(LED)生产不产热、低耗能的照明产品。

After developing hollow fibres 100 times thinner than human hair, packed with “good” bacteria, engineers at Israeli company Nanospun say they have created a fabric that can purify water without the need to use a large amount of power.

在开发出了比人类头发细100倍的空心纤维（其中充满了“有益”细菌）之后，以色列公司Nanospun的工程师们表示，他们已经创造出了一种无需消耗大量能源就能净化水体的织物。

Modern Meadow, the latest addition to the Horizons’ fold, makes biomaterials – meat and leather products – without slaughtering animals, through a process it calls biofabrication. Horizons invested in 2014.

Modern Meadow是维港的投资组合中的最新成员，该公司通过一个被其称为生物制造的过程生产生物材料——例如肉类和皮制品——而无需屠戮动物。该公司于2014年获得了维港的投资。