Silicon Valley vs. China

VCs Take on TikTok, Petronas Fuels Up Venture Arm, and a Startup Looks to Scale its Battery Recycling Technology.

Author

Adam from VC Brags
March 20, 2023

Welcome Shareholders,

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In today’s edition of the Brags Newsletter, we'll cover how a consortium of VCs are taking on TikTok over privacy concerns, Malaysian State Oil Company Petronas looks to give its venture arm a boost, and a battery recycling startup powers up with new funding.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Venture Today 👏

  • A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has partnered with notable Silicon Valley venture capitalists to form a working group focused on countering China's influence in the American technology sector.

The Hill & Valley Forum, a consortium aimed at countering China's influence in the US tech industry, will hold a dinner prior to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's upcoming Congressional testimony. Prominent venture capitalists Peter Thiel and Vinod Khosla are among the scheduled speakers. Concerns about TikTok's potential impact on younger and underaged US citizens, as well as its Chinese ownership potentially gathering data from American users, have sparked worry among lawmakers and regulators.

Led by former Google global policy advisor Jacob Helberg, the alliance views TikTok as China's most significant espionage operation against the US. Lawmakers, venture capitalists, and lobbyists are advocating for the government to ban or limit TikTok's influence, citing a significant threat from China. Their efforts have been making considerable progress, since TikTok was banned on Federal devices and networks recently. ByteDance was also notified by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) last week that unless the company's Chinese owners divest from their shares, the app will face a ban.

Who's Raising?

  • Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company, intends to increase its corporate venture capital arm by up to $200 million as early as April.

Petronas plans to use the new funds to make innovation and technology investments across the Asia Pacific region. The new funding will add to the company's existing fund, which stands at $350 million. As Malaysia's only Fortune Global 500 company, Petronas aims to diversify amidst oil market fluctuations. In 2019, the state oil company established a venture capital arm called Petronas Corporate Venture Capital, later renamed Petronas Ventures.

The VC has invested in companies such as Brantree Technologies, a Malaysian agri-tech startup, and Ekamor, a US-based waste-to-energy firm. The firm said that its goal is to identify innovative technologies to enhance the group's core operations and pursue growth opportunities that could generate new revenue streams.

Startup of the Day

  • Battery Recycling Machine maker Green Li-ion said it had raised $20.5 million through a pre-Series B led by climate-tech investor TRIREC, with participation from SOSV and Equinor Ventures.

The new funding brings reen Li-ion's post-money valuation to $187 million, nearly three years after its inception. The startup will use the new funding to expand production of their recycling technology, which is capable of processing 100% of all used lithium batteries and producing precursor cathode active material for new lithium-ion batteries.

Green Li-ion licenses its recycling technology to battery makers and recyclers, such as Aleon and TES. The startup plans to produce 50 recycling units annually from their two factories in Houston, Texas, and Singapore.

Memes and Other Things

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