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For anxious Indian start-ups seeking to raise capital as their country’s tech bubble deflates, the investment plans of companies such as China’s Cheetah Mobile could hardly come at a better time.
在印度，随着科技泡沫收缩，寻求募集资金的初创企业备感焦虑。对它们而言，像中国的猎豹移动(Cheetah Mobile)这样的公司来的正是时候。
“The consensus in China seems to be that India will be the next growth engine for the entire global internet market, because of its population, economic growth and rising internet penetration,” says Alex Yao, senior vice-president at the Beijing-based group, which makes utility software for Android smartphones.
“在中国，大家似乎都认为，印度将是全球互联网市场的下一个增长引擎，这是因为它的人口规模、经济增长速度和日益提高的互联网普及率，”猎豹移动高级副总裁Alex Yao表示。这家总部在北京的公司主要开发适用于Android智能手机的应用软件。
To tap that opportunity, Cheetah is planning a flurry of Indian investments, a process it began last November by leading a Rs880m ($12m) round for GOQii, the wearable fitness device maker founded by Indian entrepreneur Vishal Gondal.
为了利用这一机会，猎豹移动计划在印度进行一系列投资。其实从去年11月开始，该公司就采取了行动。当时在印度企业家维沙尔•贡达尔( Vishal Gondal)创办的可穿戴健康设备制造商GOQii发起的一轮总额8.8亿卢比（合1200万美元）的募资中，猎豹移动扮演了主投资者。
Mr Yao says he plans at least 20 more deals over the next two years, as part of efforts to tie-up with local companies that can help the New York-listed Cheetah’s wider expansion plans in India.
Alex Yao表示，他计划在未来两年再进行至少20笔交易，作为与印度当地企业结盟的努力的一部分，这样的合作将帮助在纽约上市的猎豹移动在印度实施扩张计划。
Such statements would have drawn little attention in India for most of last year, as the country’s tech scene boomed and record capital flooded in, both from Silicon Valley venture groups and technology investors including SoftBank, the Japanese telecoms company.
如果是在去年的大多数时间里，这样的声明在印度不会吸引多少关注。当时该国的科技行业一派繁荣，涌入的资本规模创下了纪录，资金来源既有硅谷风投公司，也有专爱投资科技领域的公司，如日本电信公司软银(SoftBank)。
Yet following a sharp drop-off in Indian deals in the final quarter of last year, industry figures say finding fresh funds has become even tougher in 2016, against the backdrop of a global correction in start-up valuations.
然而，在去年第四季度印度的投资交易数量大幅下降后，业内人士表示，在全球范围内对初创企业估值进行修正的背景下，在2016年募资变得更加困难了。
For entrepreneurs and investors gathered last week at Surge, a conference for start-up entrepreneurs in the Indian technology capital of Bangalore, the prominence of companies like Cheetah raised a tantalising prospect: might Chinese companies step in, just as others were drawing back?
上周，在印度科技之都班加罗尔(Bangalore)举办了初创企业家会议“Surge”。对与会的企业家和投资者而言，猎豹移动这类公司的崭露头角让人看到了一个诱人的前景：在其他投资者后退的时候，中国企业是否可能出手？
“It is getting harder to raise funds, that is true, but we have seen new sources of funds before,” says Vani Kola, managing director at Kalaari Capital, an India-focused venture group, referring to recent moves by global pension funds and investment managers to begin backing local start-ups.
“的确，募集资金变得越来越困难，但我们此前就看到了新的资金来源，”专注于印度市场的风投集团Kalaari Capital的董事总经理瓦尼•科拉(Vani Kola)表示。他指的是全球养老金基金和投资管理机构最近支持印度本土初创企业的行动。
“There are a good number of big Chinese tech players with billions on their balance sheets … we know many are looking to India.”
“很多中国大型科技公司的资产负债表上有数十亿资金……我们知道其中很多公司正把眼光投向印度。”
The idea that China’s internet giants could play a larger role in India took hold last year with the arrival of Alibaba, the ecommerce group. Founder Jack Ma unveiled an aggressive investment strategy, putting $680m into payments group PayTM while also funding the likes of Snapdeal, India’s second-largest ecommerce site.
去年，随着电商集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的到来，有关中国互联网巨头将在印度发挥更大作用的想法越来越为人们所接受。阿里巴巴创始人马云(Jack Ma)公布了一项雄心勃勃的投资策略，拟向支付公司PayTM注入6.8亿美元资金，同时投资印度第二大电商网站Snapdeal等公司。
Alibaba’s model of first backing local start-ups rather than launching its own services is one that others have since followed, notably Chinese internet group Tencent, which led a $90m funding round for health technology group Practo last August.
阿里巴巴这种先投资当地初创企业而不是推出自己服务的方式已受到了其他企业的效仿，尤其是中国互联网集团腾讯(Tencent)。去年8月，腾讯带头对医疗保健科技集团Practo发起了一轮9000万美元的投资。
More are now weighing deals. Beijing-based search engine Baidu said last month that it was examining investments in three Indian start-ups including restaurant portal Zomato. Chinese smartphone makers such as Xiaomi have also said they plan to take stakes in local companies, as they target growth in India’s fast-growing mobile market.
还有更多企业也在权衡投资印度计划。总部位于北京的搜索引擎公司百度(Baidu)上个月表示，该公司正在评估对包括餐馆门户网站Zomato在内的三家印度初创企业的投资。而小米(Xiaomi)等中国智能手机制造商也表示计划入股印度企业，它们希望在印度快速发展的手机市场取得增长。
“More and more Chinese companies seem to see India as a second China. It isn’t something we are planning, but many will want to invest,” says Peter Lau, co-founder of OnePlus, a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of high-end mobile handsets looking to expand its own operations in India rather than investing in local start-ups.
一加手机(OnePlus)联合创始人刘作虎(Peter Lau)表示：“越来越多的中国企业似乎在把印度看做第二个中国。这并不在我们的计划之内，但许多企业希望投资印度。”一加手机是一家总部位于深圳的高端手机制造商，该公司希望在印度扩张自身业务，而不是投资于印度本土的初创企业。
The hope that Indian start-ups struggling to raise funds could find a Chinese saviour may well prove illusory. Chinese companies have so far been choosy over potential deals, with many wary of India’s complex business climate and unfamiliar culture.
对于募资困难的印度初创企业或许会遇上中国救星的希望，很可能被证明是不切实际的。到目前为止，中国企业对潜在投资交易始终十分挑剔，许多企业对印度复杂的商业环境和陌生的文化十分警惕。
Others face growing problems at home as China’s economy slows, potentially limiting plans for big overseas expansion.
而由于中国经济放缓，一些中国科技企业在国内正面临日益增多的问题，这可能会限制它们大规模海外扩张的计划。
Even Mr Ma is understood to have cooled on some deals of late, for instance putting on ice long-rumoured plans to buy a stake in Micromax, India’s largest domestic smartphone maker by sales.
即使是马云也被认为近来已降低了对某些交易的热情。比如，他搁置了传闻已久的入股Micromax计划，Micromax是印度国内销量最大的智能手机制造商。
Equally, the Indian start-ups struggling to raise money from other sources are also likely to prove least attractive to Chinese investors as well.
同样，难以从其他渠道筹集资金的印度初创企业，对中国投资者来说可能也缺少吸引力。
“The idea that Chinese companies will swoop in and save bad businesses — that isn’t going to happen,” says Ms Kola.
科拉表示：“有些人想着中国企业会从天而降、拯救处境不好的企业，这种事情是不会发生的。”
Still, Mr Yao of Cheetah Mobile says India continues to appeal to Chinese tech groups seeking new international opportunities, attracted both by the market’s potential size and its likely rapid growth as the country’s online population surpasses 500m in a few years’ time.
不过，猎豹移动的Alex Yao表示，对寻求在国际上找到新机遇的中国科技集团来说，印度仍有吸引力。它们一方面被印度市场的潜在规模吸引，一方面被其迅速增长的前景吸引——印度网民人数有望在几年内超过5亿。
“This is an under-developed market, at least three to five years behind China,” he says. “So Chinese companies think we can potentially replicate our successes by investing here, by playing for the long term.”
他说：“这是一个尚未充分发展的市场，至少比中国落后三到五年。因此，中国企业认为，也许我们可以通过在这里投资、立足长远，复制我们的成功。”
