Aug 14, 2014

share One of Trustbridge's 2014 investments was a $130 million Series A for Renrendai, a peer-to-peer lending service. Shanghai-based Trustbridge Partners does early-stage venture capital deals, but not always like they're typically done in Boston. For example: Renrendai. This past January, Trustbridge and an unnamed investor were the first institutional money in the fledgling peer-to-peer lending service, splitting a check for $130 million down the middle. Chris Wilfong represents Trustbridge Partners in Boston It looks like Trustbridge is getting ready to play in the U.S., starting with Boston. In June, Trustbridge hired former Bain & Co. consultant Chris Wilfong in the Hub as a vice president. Wilfong also worked in venture capital at biotech-focused Two River Group Holdings . He’s now ensconced at WeWork South Station on Trustbridge’s behalf. He declined to comment for this article. Trustbridge's deals range in size from Renrendai down to a $1 million seed for Pinterest clone Mogujie in 2011. The firm returned for a $200 million Series D last year. In any case, this isn’t first contact for Trustbridge, which has invested alongside Matrix Partners' and Sequoia Capital's China affiliates in past deals. Co-founder Donglei Zhou , 36, went to Columbia University. Trustbridge held a 6.8 percent stake in the Chinese online retailer LightInTheBox, when it went public on U.S. markets in 2013. LightInTheBox popped by 22 percent on day one. Since then it’s guttered at around $6 a share, well below its IPO price of $9.50. In eight years, Trustbridge has raised at least four funds, the fourth a half-billion-dollar vehicle. We’ll keep an eye on what they do next.