Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Might Have Limited Impact On Asia, But Confidence Seems Shaken

Some Asian firms have disclosed cash deposits at troubled U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank SIVB, known for its deep ties with the healthcare and tech sector. Most emphasized that the amounts were immaterial to their operations.
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank echoed through startups and venture-capital firms across China to Singapore and India. The meltdown has wobbled confidence in Asia amid reliance on U.S. tech financing.
"The SVB problem is an episode that reminds us to review our reliance on investment from the U.S.," said Wang Guanyan, in Wall Street Journal report, an executive of a Guangzhou, China-based startup that develops virtual-reality games.
Related: Silicon Valley Bank Meltdown Hits Healthcare Sector As Well.
"Still, for small companies like us, we probably don't have the luxury to be picky about who we take money from, especially with the challenging macro conditions," Mr. Wang said.
SVB has been popular with many Asian startups, especially Chinese companies in the biotech field.
With SVB's collapse, "those startups lose an important financing channel and need to find other ways to raise money, especially from U.S. dollar funds," said Xinyao Wang, a healthcare equity analyst.
Among those more heavily exposed was BeiGene Ltd BGNE, with uninsured cash deposits at SVB worth about 3.9% of its $4.5 billion cash holdings, equivalent to around $175.5 million.
Zai Lab Ltd ZLAB said it had an "immaterial" 2.3% exposure to SVB out of its $1,008.5 million total cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2022.
India's minister of state for technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said on Twitter that startups should learn from the crisis and trust India's banking system more.

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