Jireh Li, formerly of Source Code Capital and Commonfund Capital, has joined China-focused venture capital firm Ince Capital as a partner, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Li’s new role, which she began on December 1, involves overseeing Ince’s global expansion. This will include investor relations, supporting investments outside of China, and assisting portfolio companies with global growth, one of the sources said. Li and Ince both declined to comment.

Having started her career with J.P. Morgan in New York, Li relocated to Beijing in 2011 to serve as Asia chief representative for Commonfund, a US-based non-profit asset manager with a strong client base among endowments and foundations. She led VC and PE fund investments across the region.

Li moved to Source Code in 2018, latterly serving as a partner responsible for investment relations and public partnerships on the US dollar-denominated fund side and as chief of staff to the CEO. She left the firm last November and completed a 12-month non-compete agreement before joining Ince.

Ince was established in 2019 by J.P. Gan, formerly a managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners. Two of his founding partners, Steven Hu and Stella Zhou, are also Qiming alumni. Ince currently has over USD 1bn in committed capital and operates out of offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

The firm closed its debut US dollar fund on USD 351.9m in 2019, receiving support from endowments and foundations as well as from global and Asian fund-of-funds and asset managers. A second vintage – comprising a USD 478m early-stage vehicle and a USD 222m opportunity fund – closed in January 2022.

Ince makes early to expansion-stage investments in start-ups involved in internet consumer and intelligent technology applications. Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently a key focus area.

The firm has already made numerous international investments. These include: iMile, a United Arab Emirates-based e-commerce delivery business that mainly serves Chinese online retailers; Allorion Therapeutics, a biotech company with locations in the US and China; Uxlink, a Singapore-based Web3 platform; and Petkit, a Chinese smart pet care services start-up that has gone global.

Cross-border or China nexus strategies are increasingly prevalent in the VC space, partly driven by fundraising challenges arising from a reluctance among LPs to back China-focused managers. Having built their track records investing in China, GPs are now “investing in Chinese,” which typically means following Chinese founders abroad or positioning themselves as pan-Asian or global investors.

International forays initially focused on Southeast Asia, but Japan, Europe, and the Americas are now increasingly targeted by VC firms with China heritage.