What Horizons Ventures does

Horizons Ventures is a privately-funded venture capital firm headquartered in Hong Kong and co-founded by Solina Chau in 2005, with Li Ka-shing listed as founder and chairman. The firm invests in early-stage and growth-stage deep science and technology companies whose IP and ideas can address fundamental universal problems — gender inequality, uneven wealth, poor health, and climate adaptation. Its portfolio spans more than 80 companies across at least 13 countries (US, UK, Germany, Australia, Israel, Indonesia, India, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Hong Kong), and includes landmark early bets in Skype (2005), Facebook (2007), Spotify (2009), Waze (2011), DeepMind (2012), Zoom (2013), and Impossible Foods (2014).

The firm is organized into two internal teams: "Investing for Impact," which sources and deploys capital into next-normal companies, and "Supporting to Scale," which provides active scaling support to portfolio companies. Investment philosophy centers on long-horizon, patient capital enabled by the firm's privately-funded structure, with positions held for 10-20+ years. Recent disclosed investments include a $45M Series A led in Nourish Ingredients (precision fermentation, 2022), a $10M round led in Cortical Labs (biological computing, 2022), a $41M Series A co-led in Juvena Therapeutics (regenerative biologics, 2022) alongside Mubadala Capital, and participation in Cauldron Ferm's $13.25M Series A2 alongside Main Sequence Ventures and SOSV. The firm has no platform software architecture, no public APIs, and no product revenue; its "deliverables" are capital, expertise, and follow-on scaling support.

Horizons Ventures generates returns through equity appreciation and realized exits from portfolio companies rather than management fees or product sales. The most material recent realization is the December 2023 announced acquisition of portfolio company Carmot Therapeutics by Roche for $2.7 billion upfront plus up to $400 million in milestone payments. The firm does not disclose fund size, AUM, or ownership concentration; it has no public listing, no parent company, and operates with a lean team of approximately 22 members. The business model and GTM are entirely relationship-driven: the firm sources deals by inhabiting the deep science and technology community, conducts direct founder outreach, and frequently co-invests with strategic and financial partners such as Mubadala Capital, Main Sequence Ventures, Blackbird, In-Q-Tel, and SOSV.

Name

Horizons Ventures

Legal name

Horizons Ventures

Website

https://horizonsventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Horizons Ventures is a privately-funded Hong Kong-based venture capital firm co-founded by Solina Chau in 2005, investing in early-stage and growth-stage deep science and technology companies through its "Investing for Impact" and "Supporting to Scale" teams across a globally diversified portfolio of 80+ companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Deep tech investing
• Early-stage equity
• Technology venture funding
• Impact investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Hong Kong

HQ country

Hong Kong SAR China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Investment returns from portfolio company exits and ongoing equity stakes: Privately-funded venture capital firm that generates returns through equity stakes in portfolio companies and realized exits (e.g., the Roche acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics, in which Horizons was an investor). Investment horizon is long-term, with early investments dating back to Skype (2005), Facebook (2007), Spotify (2009), DeepMind (2012), and Zoom (2013).

Go-to-market motion3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Horizons Ventures is a privately-funded venture capital firm that deploys patient, long-horizon equity capital into deep science and technology companies whose IP and ideas can solve fundamental universal problems such as gender inequality, uneven wealth, poor health, and climate adaptation. The firm operates through two internal teams — 'Investing for Impact' (sourcing and investing in next-normal companies) and 'Supporting to Scale' (providing ongoing scaling expertise to portfolio companies) — and has built a track record of early bets on category-defining businesses including DeepMind, Siri, Skype, Facebook, Spotify, and Zoom.

Product overview

Horizons Ventures is a privately-funded venture capital firm, not a traditional product company, founded in 2005 by Solina Chau. Its offering is a single unified investment service organized into two complementary teams: 'Investing for Impact' (which sources and invests in deep science and technology companies) and 'Supporting to Scale' (which supports those portfolio companies on the journey to scale and impact). The publicly-disclosed portfolio spans more than 80 companies across biotech, AI, climate, fintech, mobility, food tech, and consumer software, including DeepMind, Siri, Skype, Spotify, Zoom, Impossible Foods, Modern Meadow, ZeroAvia, Cortical Labs, and Notpla. Rather than selling software products, the company's deliverables are capital, expertise, and follow-on support delivered to founders; there is no platform-plus-modules software architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investing for Impact Horizons Ventures' core investment service that sources and deploys equity capital into deep science and technology companies solving fundamental universal problems. It targets early-stage, next-normal companies with track record including early bets on DeepMind, Siri, and Skype.
• Supporting to Scale Companion service to Investing for Impact that provides ongoing scaling expertise and hands-on support to portfolio companies, helping founders push their businesses to scale and impact beyond the initial capital injection.

Quantifiable outcome

• Roche agreed to acquire portfolio company Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 billion upfront plus up to $400 million in milestone payments (announced December 3, 2023).
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and supporting.

• RochemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 December 2023Acquired Horizons Ventures portfolio company Carmot Therapeutics for $2.7 billion upfront plus up to $400 million in milestone payments, with closing expected in Q1 2024. Carmot joins Roche's Pharmaceuticals Division, advancing clinical-stage obesity and diabetes therapeutics including CT-388, CT-996, and CT-868.
• CSIROsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Research alliance with Horizons Ventures portfolio company Nourish Ingredients alongside various universities in Australia and globally, to scale production and extend product development for precision-fermented animal-free fats.
• bit.biosupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022UK biotech company partnering with Horizons Ventures portfolio company Cortical Labs to develop the CLI system for novel, in vitro cognitive testing for the life-sciences industry.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sequoia Capital: One of the world's most prominent early-stage venture capital firms investing across deep tech, biotech, and consumer software. Highly comparable to Horizons Ventures in thesis-driven, founder-friendly seed and Series A investing, with a similar track record of category-defining early bets.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): US-based venture capital firm operating dedicated bio/health, climate, and deep tech funds with a thesis-driven approach to transformative technologies. Comparable to Horizons in active portfolio support infrastructure and focus on category-defining deep-tech founders.
• Khosla Ventures: US-based venture capital firm investing across deep tech, biotech, AI, climate, and alternative energy with high-conviction early bets. Directly comparable to Horizons Ventures in long-horizon, science-and-technology-focused mandate and willingness to back capital-intensive breakthroughs.
• Lux Capital: US venture capital firm focused on frontier science and technology, including AI, synthetic biology, space, and advanced materials. Closely comparable to Horizons Ventures in investing at the intersection of deep science and category-defining commercial applications.
• Founders Fund: US venture capital firm investing in transformative technologies across biotech, aerospace, AI, and frontier tech. Comparable to Horizons Ventures in thesis-driven, conviction-led investing in companies pursuing ambitious 'next-normal' technological outcomes.
• Mubadala Capital Ventures: Sovereign-backed venture investor with active biotech and deep tech funds, and a documented co-investor alongside Horizons Ventures in Juvena Therapeutics' Series A. Directly comparable as a large, multi-stage deep-tech investor with co-investment overlap.
• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed climate and deep-tech venture fund investing patient capital into transformative climate and sustainability technologies. Closely comparable to Horizons Ventures' impact-driven, long-horizon mandate targeting climate adaptation and fundamental universal problems.
• ARCH Venture Partners: US venture capital firm specialized in early-stage, science-driven biotech and deep tech investing with multi-decade holding periods. Directly comparable to Horizons Ventures in deep-science thesis and clinical/biotech pipeline exposure (e.g., Carmot Therapeutics).

Regional players

• Main Sequence Ventures: Australia-based deep tech and science venture capital firm that co-led Cauldron Ferm's Series A2 alongside Horizons Ventures. Comparable as a science-led VC backing deep-tech founders with similar geographic and thesis overlap.

Others

• In-Q-Tel: US strategic venture capital firm affiliated with the CIA, focused on frontier technology investments. Co-invested alongside Horizons Ventures in Cortical Labs and comparable as a deep-tech investor with differentiated sourcing and strategic mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/horizons-ventures
• Xx.com/horizonshk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments369 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Horizons Ventures