Jeffrey Li, managing partner, Tencent Investment, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2025 Powerlist.
As managing partner of Tencent Investment, Jeffrey Li has helped make Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent one of the world’s most active corporate investors.
He began his role in 2011, when the unit started, by investing in internet and gaming companies. At that time, he was also a general manager in the company’s M&A team. Some important investments in the early years include Epic Games, which developed a number of household name video game titles.
Not surprisingly, a big theme for Tencent’s investment in the past year has been AI. Last year, it took part in three funding rounds for separate Chinese generative AI startups: Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Moonshot and Zhipu. In March, it invested in Monica, the AI startup responsible for the AI agent tool Manus, which has received attention for being able to competently perform some multi-step tasks. Tencent released a new AI-reasoning model in the same month.
Last year, Li told GCV that the company was also exploring investing in AI companies in different sectors, saying this “could potentially include gaming, biotech, productivity and creativity”.
Biotech and drug discovery have become focus areas for the investment team, especially in China.
Beyond AI, Tencent Investments backed two fintech companies in November, taking part in the $36m funding round for Upsider, which provides corporate cards and payments services, and the $300m series E round for Ualá, an Argentinian digital bank operator.
Tencent is also a prominent biotech investor. It co-led the series A round for Bioon, a stem cell therapy developer, in April last year. It followed this by taking part in the series D round for the haemophilia drug developer Gensciences, in June. Li says biotech and drug discovery have become focus areas for the investment team, especially in China.
Li brought extensive corporate experience when he joined Tencent. His most recent role was investment principal with Bertelsmann’s investment arm Bertelsmann Asia Investment. There, he led investments in tech, media and telecom startups, as well as education and business process outsourcing. Before that he was a director at Google, responsible for strategic partnership development.
The Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
