According to the San Francisco Business Times, RocketSpace, the tech accelerator that counts companies like Uber, Spotify and Practice Fusion among its hundreds of alumni, has raised $336 million to expand its international growth and flesh out its San Francisco headquarters.

The funding comes from HNA Group, a Fortune 500 aviation conglomerate based in China. RocketSpace, which has hosted more than 800 tech startups since it was founded in 2011, is looking to replicate its success abroad as it expands locally.

Duncan Logan, RocketSpace's founder and CEO, described the investment as a 'multifaceted' deal aimed largely at helping its startups, which include tech companies at various stages of growth, make inroads into the large Chinese market sooner. RocketSpace doesn't disclose its valuation, but the deal will allow RocketSpace to retain its majority stake, Logan said.

'What we're offering to U.S. startups is the ability to go into China via RocketSpace,' he said. 'They can be a member in San Francisco, and very easily extend that to being a member of RocketSpace China in various locations: Shenzen, Beijing.'

Uber, perhaps the best-known alumni of RocketSpace, made headlines this week for a $35 billion transaction with Didi Kuaidi, its Chinese rival. Because Uber had spent heavily on acquiring market share in China - losing $1 billion a year on Chinese expansion, CEO Travis Kalanick said in February - the deal was interpreted by many as a concession of defeat by a 'clone' company with home-court advantage.

Broadly speaking, U.S. tech startups often face difficulties in breaking into the Chinese market because of linguistic barriers and the ease of creating copycats.

'It's something we're super conscious of,' says Logan. 'And this is not a knock on Uber; they've done an amazing job and we're very proud of our relationship with them. But the web is a global platform and, increasingly, successful top-tier startups need to establish themselves as a global player far sooner than other companies who can catch up to what they're doing.'

Logan added that RocketSpace has been working in China for about 24 months pursuing partnerships that will help its startups build strategic relationships in the country more easily. The accelerator also recently revealed plans to open a London campus in 2017, which Duncan describes as its very first campus 'built and designed for tech startups.'

The accelerator, which expanded last month to an additional floor in its Financial District headquarters, intends to move forward with plans to create a similar campus in San Francisco and is looking for additional space, Duncan added.

'This capital will allow us to do the same in San Francisco, our home,' he says. 'We've always been trying to make do with our 'version one' campus here, and now we can push ahead hopefully in the not too distant future.'