London startup builder Founders Factory partners with - and raises millions from - Chinese PE firm CSC

Founders Factory, the London-based accelerator/incubator founded by Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox and Jim Meyerle, have received a 'multimillion pound' investment from Chinese private equity holding CSC Group.

You may remember CSC from when they pumped $400 million into US-based Angellist.

The five-year deal between Founders Factory and CSC is all about artificial intelligence: the Chinese PE firm will become the former's "exclusive AI partner", which means it will co-invest in and scale two new AI startups every year.

From the press release:

"The partnership will build a bridge between AI talent in Europe and China; giving Founders Factory startups access to the Chinese market and Chinese talent the opportunity to enter the European tech ecosystem.

The in-house team of experts at Founders Factory, many of whom are successful entrepreneurs themselves, will provide hands-on support and advice to participating startups, as well as working with CSC Group to jointly build and launch new AI products and services."

Brent Hoberman, who co-founded and serves as Executive Chairman of Founders Factory, said:

“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. AI will impact all sectors built upon large data sets ranging from health and insurance, commerce and finance, even beauty and media and we are uniquely positioned to leverage that trend and attract the brightest talent.”

Founders Factory has previously closed deals with Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (education), Guardian Media Group (media), Aviva (fintech) and L’Oreal ('beauty tech').