Leading Chinese tech investor Sequoia Capital China plans to shed as much as a fifth of its investment personnel in response to a tech sector slowdown according to sources speaking to Reuters.
The sources said that the cut would affect at least 10% of its current team of around 70 venture investment professionals.
The job cuts kicked off towards the end of March according to the sources, targeting the technology & media, healthcare, consumer and industrial technology teams.
The sources said that departing staff include one partner, one managing director, as well as several vice presidents and associates.
Neil Shen launched Sequoia China as the Chinese arm of Silicon Valley venture investor Sequoia Capital in 2005. The firm currently employs around 150 staff in Chinese cities including Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Sequoia China said in a statement that it engages in regular review of its personnel arrangements, which could result in ongoing staff adjustments.
The report arrives following bearish investor sentiment and a drying up of funds in China amidst Beijing’s latest crackdown on debt, as well as other staff cuts at leading Chinese tech firms.
These include reports in February that ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing will reduce staff by 15% and e-commerce giant JD.com will retrench 10% of senior executives, as well as a report from Bloomberg in March that tech giant Tencent will either retrench or demote a tenth of management executives.
