Chinese venture capital firm adds Cleveland adviser

A Cleveland venture capitalist who co-founded Bridge Investment Fund has taken on a new role as a senior adviser to an early stage Chinese investment fund.

Michael Goldberg will work with Kaiwu Capital, a China-based venture group, to help the fund identify market and collaboration opportunities for its portfolio companies — particularly in the biomedical industry — but stressed that his work with Bridge will continue. He’ll be based in Cleveland and travel regularly to Asia.

“The Chinese healthcare market is growing exponentially and this is a great opportunity to help Kaiwu develop its portfolio in the life sciences space and assist U.S. healthcare companies to access the China market,” Goldberg said.

“Since Bridge launched, I’ve built deep relationships in Cleveland and around the country with leading healthcare institutions and corporations, and I look forward to leveraging these relationships on behalf of Kaiwu,” he continued. “My involvement with Kaiwu will complement my work with Bridge.”

Bridge’s business model is to invest in Israeli medical device companies that would benefit from setting up operations in the Cleveland area as they look to break into the U.S. market, but Goldberg’s work with a previous employer also makes him appealing to Kaiwu.

Goldberg worked with AOL as a director of international business development and helped structure a $200 million joint venture with Lenovo in China. “The Chinese market is a unique place to do business,” he said. “The fact that I’ve had several years of experience working with one of China’s top tech companies reflects that I have a strong understanding of how to do business in that market.”

Kaiwu’s fund launched earlier this year and its executives are continuing to raise capital, Goldberg said.

One of Bridge’s portfolio companies, Israel-based cryoablation device firm IceCure Medical, earlier this year chose Northeast Ohio as its U.S. base of operations.