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Chinese equity firm makes 'multimillion pound' investment in Founders Factory AI partnership

Accelerator and incubator programme Founders Factory has sealed significant new investment from one China’s biggest private equity firms as part of a new AI initiative.

Beijing-based CSC Group has stumped up an undisclosed, ‘multimillion pound’ investment in the London-based accelerator that will attempt to bridge the gap between China and the UK’s AI sectors.

As an exclusive AI partner, CSC will work with Founders Factory to invest in and scale five early stage startups and co-create two new companies each year giving both companies access to their respective AI talent market.

Dania Zhou, CSC Group Senior Managing Director and CSC Union Co-Founder, commented: “This is just the beginning of a long term relationship with Founders Factory; a relationship that will give us access to the best European talent through its unique model backed by other large corporate partners.

“The founding team has a great track record at building businesses; something we now want to do together with a focus on artificial intelligence.”

Brent Hoberman, Founders Factory Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, added: “This deal is significant because it extends the reach of Founders Factory into one of the most coveted, yet hard to access markets on the planet, whilst proving that the UK is recognised globally as a centre of excellence for AI.”

The agreement becomes Founders Factory’s fifth such partnership, following similar arrangements with Aviva, l’Oreal, the Guardian Media Group and Holtzbrinck Publishing Group in the last 12 months.