Mar 13, 2025 - Business

Exclusive: GSR Ventures splits its U.S. and China arms

Dan Primack

Illustration of a person standing between a US and Chinese flag. — Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

GSR Ventures tells Axios that it has formally separated its U.S. business from its China business, and renamed the U.S. effort as Informed Ventures.

Why it matters: GSR was one of several VC firms rebuked last year by Congress for its cross-border investing activities, and has decided that its 20-year history as a global firm is no longer worth the political pain.

What they're saying: "We set up a U.S.-based subsidiary in 2019 because it was quite apparent even back then that you needed a U.S. fund to be able to invest effectively in early-stage ventures here," explains Richard Lim, founder of Informed Ventures and co-founder of GSR Ventures.

"We made a decision then to call it GSR Ventures U.S., and it turned out to be a mistake. There was massive confusion."

Look ahead: Informed Ventures will assume all activities of GSR Ventures U.S., and has around $200 million to invest before needing to raise a new fund.

Add Axios on Google

Exclusive: GSR Ventures splits its U.S. and China arms

What to read next