Jack is back.
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's private equity firm secretly led the latest funding round for Corgi, marking the first time the firm is known to have invested in a startup founded in the US.
Yunfeng Capital, co-founded by Jack Ma and businessman David Yu, funded Corgi with about $30 million, according to a source familiar with the matter and correspondence seen by Business Insider. That round valued Corgi at $4 billion, Forbes previously reported last month.
Corgi is an AI business insurance startup that was part of Y Combinator's summer 2024 cohort. It's one of the hottest startups in San Francisco, with its valuation almost quadrupling over the last three months. It's best-known for operating a 24-hour café in San Francisco and touting a 7-day workweek.
Corgi and Yunfeng Capital didn't respond to requests for comment. Ma's charitable foundation and Alibaba also didn't respond.
Geopolitical tensions between Washington, D.C., and Beijing have made cross-border tech investment increasingly fraught.
Publicly, Yunfeng Capital largely touts Chinese companies in its portfolio.
It's also a rare overseas bet from Ma, who has kept a much lower profile in recent years. The Alibaba cofounder disappeared from public view after criticizing Chinese regulators in 2020. Last year, Ma reemerged in China as the country's government embraces AI.
China has exerted greater control over outbound capital and technology, for example, ordering Meta to unwind its acquisition of AI agent startup Manus.
The US has also tightened scrutiny of Chinese investment through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Prior to the tensions, Alibaba actively invested in US companies, including Lyft in 2014 and Magic Leap in 2016. Ma stepped down as Alibaba's chairman in 2019.
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Charles Rollet is BI's tech correspondent in San Francisco. Prior to joining BI, Charles worked at TechCrunch covering startups and VC. Charles is based in the Bay Area, where he enjoys hiking with his dogs. You can contact Charles securely on Signal at charlesrollet.12 or +1-628-282-2811.
I'm a senior correspondent at Business Insider, where I cover the tech industry with a focus on venture capital and startups.I can frequently be seen on CNN and other channels providing analysis on a range of business and economic topics. I also appear often at dozens of the biggest events around the world, including the World Economic Forum, HumanX, and Web Summit.Please get in touch if you have a story to tell. For tips (not pitches), you can message me securely on Signal @BenBergman.11Here are some examples of stories I've written:
- VCs are flooding Anthropic with offers to invest at up to an $800 billion valuation
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Here is a little more about me: Previously, I was a senior reporter at LAist/Southern California Public Radio, where I covered business and economics. I have also written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review and was a reporting intern at The Times. I started my career as a producer for NPR's Morning Edition and also produced award-winning documentaries for public television.I spent the 2017-2018 academic year at Columbia Business School as a Knight-Bagehot fellow. After that, I oversaw the development of The Journal, a daily podcast produced by The Wall Street Journal and Gimlet Media.Originally from Seattle, I graduated cum laude from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a degree in politics.In my free time, I love skiing, tennis, and poker. I competed in the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event but sadly did not win.
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