Startups can no longer count on a steady stream of money from the investment department of big companies.

"later LatePost" learned that Xie Ying, senior director of BABA's War Investment Department, was about to leave. Xie Ying was previously in charge of technology and other innovative investment business. He led the investment in Baobaoshu, Big car search, Ruhan, and so on, and was one of the key figures in BABA's investment.

Wu Wei, head of BABA's CFO and War Investment Department, confirmed Xie Ying's departure at a video conference within the war investment department on Monday. "later LatePost" confirmed to Xie Ying himself that he had not responded as of the press release.

At the same time as Xie Ying left, BABA's Ministry of Integrity is reviewing and reviewing various projects of the War Investment Department.BABA War Investment Department is also conducting a comprehensive review of investment projects.

BABA's entire War Investment Department is also undergoing organizational upgrading: nextAll BABA's investment departments scattered in various business entities (except Ant Financial Services Group's War Investment Department) are under the unified management of the Group Investment Department.Including ele.me, rookie, Alibaba Health Information Technology, BABA film and other business investment department.

An insider of the War Investment Department told LatePost later, "Wu Wei said internally that the next investment of the War Investment Department should be closer to the business."If the projects invested in the past do not have much strategic coordination, they will slowly withdraw in the future.」

According to statistics provided to later LatePost by global data provider Dealogic, BABA participated in 37 transactions with a total value of $12.54 billion in 2019, while BABA participated in 70 transactions with a total value of $54.66 billion in 2018.BABA's investment this year is down about 47% from the same period last year, and the amount of investment is down about 77% from the same period last year.BABA's biggest investment in 2019 is $2 billion to buy Ecola.

In contrast, Tencent's investment has also shrunk to a certain extent. As of December 16, Tencent participated in 72 transactions with a total value of $15.904 billion in 2019, while Tencent participated in 92 transactions with a total value of $35.69 billion in 2018. Tencent's investment this year is down about 22 per cent from the same period last year, and the amount of investment is down about 55 per cent from the same period last year.

Due to the continuous deterioration of the market environment, China's venture capital circle is experiencing a new round of "capital winter". The War Investment Department, represented by BABA and Tencent, has shrunk the number and scale of investment, which meansStartups can no longer count on a steady stream of money from the investment departments of these big companies.

The new leadership of the War Investment Department: all business investment departments are uniformly assigned to the Group War Investment Department.

After this organizational upgrade, the War Investment Department will formally form a new set of leading bodies.BABA CFO Wu Wei is the general head of the War Investment Department and three key subordinates:Chen Jun, overall charge of domestic investment business; Yao Yunren (Michael Yao), head of institutional finance department of BABA, will also be fully responsible for BABA's international investment business; Zhang Feiyan, one of the earliest members of BABA's war investment department, is currently in charge of middle and background management.

It is worth noting that next, all the investment departments of BABA scattered in various business entities (except Ant Financial Services Group's War Investment Department) were put under the unified management of the Group Investment Department, and the persons in charge of each business investment department reported to Chen Jun. including ele.me, Cainiao, Alibaba Health Information Technology, BABA Film and other business investment department, involving about 30 people.

BABA Strategic Investment Department was set up by Cai Chongxin, co-founder of BABA.For a long time, BABA's War Investment Department had three investment teams in China, including the heads of Xie Ying, Zhang Feiyan and Chen Jun.Report to Cai Chongxin: Chen Jun's team is in Shanghai, mainly engaged in retail project investment and mergers; Zhang Feiyan's team in Beijing, used to focus on O2O and IOT, and later in charge of cultural media; Xie Ying's team in Hangzhou, mainly focused on innovation investment.

On June 18 this year, CFO Wu Wei officially succeeded Cai Chongxin and was also in charge of the Ali War Investment Department, reporting to CEO Zhang Yong that the latter's expectation for Wu Wei was to realize the integration of strategic investment business and financial system.

Wu Wei led the construction of BABA's entire financial system. She joined BABA in July 2007 and participated in the Hong Kong listing of BABA's B2B subsidiary in the first year, and was appointed Deputy CFO of BABA Group in October 2011. on May 10, 2013, on the same day Ma Yun and Lu Zhaoxi handed over BABA CEO, Wu Wei succeeded Cai Chongxin as group CFO.

Before joining BABA, Wu Wei was the first Chinese audit partner promoted by KPMG in China, providing audit and consulting services for large foreign-invested enterprises such as Motorola and Siemens, as well as China Petroleum & Chemical.

BABA's internal evaluation of Wuwei style is rational and cautious.A person close to Wu Wei said, "Wu Wei came from an audit background and paid more attention to risk control, and she calculated the accounts more carefully." "

The change of investment thinking under the rule of Wu Wei: it is closer to the business, and the project with little coordination will slowly withdraw.

A former person from BABA's War Investment Department told LatePost later, "in the past, many of BABA's investments or acquisitions were launched by the business department, but then the person in charge of the business was rotated, and no one was in charge of it. The new ones refused to admit their debts, and finally became a mess. "within the War Investment Department, there was no dedicated person in charge of post-investment management in the past, and different investment teams did not have a clear division of areas with each other, so there would be a race track.

Since Wu Wei became the head of the War Investment Department in June, he has made a series of adjustments and combs.Judging from its existing actions, the adjustment and change of thinking of Wuwei against the Investment Department can be summarized into two major directions: closer to the business and paying attention to the unity of the organization.

Wu Wei fought against the pitching department.The first big move is to transfer Zhang Feiyan to be responsible for the post-investment service and management of BABA's investment project.Zhang Feiyan, an old BABA, joined BABA in October 2006 and has been in charge of the group's strategic investment business. An insider from the Investment Department of Ali War told later LatePost, "after investing, you need the coordination of various business departments within BABA, and it is easier to mobilize resources in the identity of Feiyan BABA. "

The recent adjustment of Wuwei to the investment department can be regarded as another big move to centralize and manage the scattered business investment departments.The organizational unity of the entire War Investment Department is stronger, and it is also more conducive to improving the efficiency of investment.

The idea of "closer to business" was repeatedly mentioned by Wu Wei at the staff meeting on Monday, and she also made corresponding organizational adjustments: Chen Jun currently manages the team with the largest number of people in the War Investment Department.In the future, the investment team it manages will be divided into eight or nine groups according to the field, and the investment team leader in each field will have more communication with the corresponding business president of the group.To keep abreast of the latest strategy of the business unit.

Internally, Wu Wei also stressed that the projects that have been invested are reviewed and combed. If the projects invested in the past do not have much strategic coordination, they will slowly withdraw in the future.

At BABA Investor Day on September 24, Wu Wei revealed that as of that time, BABA had withdrawn from more than 50 investment projects, achieving an investment income of 18 billion yuan, including Momo Inc, Exploration, Meituan, Snap Inc and other companies.

At the same time, Wu Wei stressedBABA's investment M & A strategy has three points, including continuous strategic investment, more attention to business coordination, continuous portfolio review and strict supervision and management.According to "later LatePost", BABA's Ministry of honest and honest Administration is also reviewing and reviewing various projects of the War Investment Department.

As of press time, BABA has not responded.