Letter from the CEO

Dear valued clients, partners, and friends,

At Serica, we’ve always been driven by a singular mission: to empower innovators to leverage the size and agility of the Chinese market to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Since 2016, we’ve served as a conduit between China and the West, facilitating deals and partnerships to advance shared global goals such as sustainability, food security, healthcare access, and poverty alleviation.

But the world is changing. Increasingly complex economic, geopolitical, and regulatory challenges have caused a dynamic shift in China’s trade and investment ties with the rest of the world. As a result, Serica needs to evolve strategically to ensure that we can continue to expand our reach and make a positive impact worldwide.

The Need to Evolve

We have identified three key trends that demand a bold new direction for Serica:

• Shifting Priorities of Western Innovators: MNCs are bullish on the Chinese market, investing more into an “in China, for China” strategy and the enhancement of their global innovation capabilities. In contrast, scaleups are increasingly looking at other large emerging markets such as India and Brazil instead of China.
• The Rise of Emerging Markets: Countries in the Global South, particularly those in the Middle East and LATAM, are increasingly seeking solutions to address similar challenges China has faced, driving a surge in technologically-focused trade and investment with China.
• The Era of Global China: Chinese companies of all shapes and sizes have begun expanding overseas (出海) at an unprecedented scale and pace.

Our current corporate structure, business model, and infrastructure are designed to support Western innovators to enter and scale in the Chinese market and, on a smaller scale, to support Chinese innovators to expand into a limited set of Western markets. In light of these changes, it’s clear that our current setup is no longer sufficient to deliver our desired levels of growth and market impact.

Introducing the Serica Global Partnership Network

To address these challenges head-on and seize new opportunities, we are excited to announce the launch of the ‘Serica Global Partnership Network’, the next chapter in our journey.

Our new model combines the strengths of franchising with a collaborative network structure. Established companies from across the world with complementary expertise requiring specialist regional expertise and resources will join our network as partners. They will gain access to our brand, platform, infrastructure, and talent pool that will enable their clients to engage with some of the world’s most dynamic markets. We, in turn, will act as a central hub, facilitating infrastructure access, knowledge exchange, and collaboration across the network through mutually beneficial revenue and resource-sharing arrangements. This new model will enable us to:

• Deliver greater value and impact: Effectively meet the evolving needs of our global client base with enhanced market access, a broader (and higher volume) talent pool, and a greater scope of solutions;
• Support Chinese companies at scale: Develop the capabilities to effectively guide and support the expansive international ambitions of Chinese companies at scale in multiple markets across the world – not just the West.
• Expand our reach to the Global South: Increase our footprint to cater to the growing needs of the Global South, helping companies unlock new opportunities for collaboration and innovation in their home markets;
• Become more agile and adaptable: Move beyond the traditional service provider model and embrace a more flexible and scalable approach; and
• Accelerate our mission: By facilitating cross-border collaboration and innovation on a larger scale, we can make a far greater impact in solving shared global challenges. 

Leading the Change

To ensure the successful implementation of this strategic shift, we have decided to make a number of changes to the Serica leadership team, board of directors, and advisory board, which we aim to complete this Spring. Amongst these changes, I have made the difficult decision to step down as CEO and into the role of Non-Executive Chair. In this new capacity, I will oversee this crucial transition period and continue to support the leadership team as they navigate the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.

Embracing the Future

We understand that change can be unsettling, but we firmly believe that this next chapter in Serica’s journey will unlock new opportunities for growth and collaboration, ultimately allowing us to deliver greater value to our clients and deliver positive impact at a significantly greater scale. We remain committed to open communication and will continue to provide regular updates on our progress, beginning with announcements of our reshuffled leadership team and first cohort of partner companies this Spring. In the meantime, we encourage you to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Yours sincerely,

Founder & CEO