Northern Light Venture Capital was founded on January 1, 2005, by Feng Deng, Yan Ke, and Jeffrey Lee, two of whom had just completed one of the most consequential Chinese-founder exits in Silicon Valley history - NetScreen Technologies, an enterprise security company they co-founded that IPO'd on NASDAQ in 2001 before Juniper Networks acquired it for $4.2 billion in 2004. That operating credibility and cross-Pacific network shaped Northern Light's genuinely dual-market model, dual-headquartered in Menlo Park and Beijing/Shanghai, backing companies that leverage China's industrial and human resources to build lasting global businesses across TMT, clean technology, healthcare, and consumer sectors. The firm's roughly 70% Series A, 20% Series B allocation has produced 13 unicorns, 15 IPOs, and 23 acquisitions across more than 300 portfolio companies, including Meituan's 2018 Hong Kong IPO at a roughly $63 billion valuation, and NLVC now manages more than $4.5 billion.
Meituan's 2018 Hong Kong IPO at a roughly $63 billion valuation - an early Northern Light bet, alongside co-founders Feng Deng and Yan Ke's own prior exit: NetScreen Technologies' $4.2 billion acquisition by Juniper Networks