Qiming Venture Partners Raises Record 6.5 Billion RMB; Duane Kuang: Scale Was Not the Goal

By Qian Ren

Edited by Zhiyan Chen

The largest RMB fundraising in China since 2023 has closed.

An Yong Waves has learned that Qiming Venture Partners has officially completed the final close of its seventh RMB fund, raising 6.5 billion yuan. Ten months ago, the firm announced first closes of $2.5 billion and 4.7 billion yuan for its dollar and RMB vehicles respectively. Compared to its sixth RMB fund, which wrapped up fundraising in early 2021, this latest vehicle grew in size by nearly 128%. Notably, the number of insurance company LPs increased from two to eight, with their combined commitments accounting for one-quarter of the total fund size.

Since raising its first dollar fund in 2006 and its first RMB fund in 2010, Qiming has grown into a mega fund with $9.5 billion in AUM across 18 funds. At a time when many GPs are grappling with a weakening dollar environment and a strengthening RMB landscape, Qiming's decision to break from its historical pattern of roughly 40% growth between successive funds — more than doubling instead — carries uncommon significance for the primary market.

Duane Kuang, Qiming's founding managing partner, told media that reaching this new high was not a deliberately pursued target. Rather, it stemmed from two factors: market opportunities could absorb more capital, and the firm's human resources, investment capabilities, and organizational structure could support such scale.

He added, however, that "we won't keep moving toward ever-larger fund sizes. There may just be slight increases from one fund to the next."

The Inflection Point

If Qiming's fundraising once resembled a steady jog, the past few years have shown a sprinting pace. The inflection point came in 2020.

An Yong Waves has reviewed public records showing that Qiming's first five RMB funds followed a roughly biennial rhythm with stable incremental growth. The first fund in 2010 was just 250 million yuan; seven years later, the fifth fund reached 2.1 billion. But starting in 2020, the combined size of the seventh and eighth dollar funds surpassed the total of the previous six dollar funds. The RMB funds' trajectory was even steeper — the sixth and seventh funds together nearly doubled the combined size of the first five.

Within three years, Qiming's capital base leaped dramatically. These four funds alone account for half of the firm's total AUM.

This leap owes partly to Qiming's early start in RMB fundraising. Its RMB "raise-invest-manage-exit" cycle has now run for thirteen years — the time it takes for a fund structure to mature and develop its own culture. Experience across cycles and a continuously honed evolution mechanism help the firm balance long-termism with flexibility. The more direct reason, however, is performance.

The ability to attract different types of RMB LPs is one foundation of Qiming's emergence as a mega fund. An Yong Waves previously reported that the sixth RMB fund's investors included returning LPs such as Yuanhe Chenkun and Xiamen C&D, alongside newcomers like Beijing and Shanghai's sci-tech innovation母 funds, plus two of China's largest insurance companies.

For the just-completed seventh fund, the LP base comprises insurance institutions, well-known market-oriented母 funds, listed companies and state-owned enterprises, and local government guidance funds. A standout feature: insurance investors grew from two to eight, with their commitments reaching one-quarter of the fund.

In China's RMB fundraising market, insurance capital's large scale and long-duration nature make it inherently compatible with equity investment horizons. In theory and practice alike, insurers have become the most sought-after LP category for domestic VC/PE. Yet insurance money is notoriously hard to secure. Given the industry's nature, insurers have their own risk calculus and prefer direct deals; fund investments are merely supplementary. This makes them extremely selective, gravitating toward established, high-performing generalist funds with deep resources.

From its first RMB fundraise in 2010, to gradually winning insurance capital, to this year's concentrated "insurance syndicate" commitment — Qiming's RMB journey illustrates a primary market reality: for a generalist fund to truly earn recognition from China's top-tier LPs requires sufficient capability and patience from the GP.

Beyond this, multiple LPs in this fund are repeat investors, with a reinvestment rate exceeding 70%.

An RMB LP who has backed Qiming twice noted that among traditional dollar funds, Qiming began raising RMB and collaborating with local governments unusually early. "You can see that Qiming deeply understands China's policy landscape and local governments' practical needs, crafting mutually beneficial fund structures."

A New Phase

Since its 2006 founding, Qiming has focused on early and growth-stage investments in technology, consumer, and healthcare. Among its 530 portfolio companies, over 200 have exited through IPO or M&A.

Its recent deal flow shows sharpening tech credentials. Specifically: semiconductors, autonomous driving, AI, robotics, industrial automation, innovative drugs, novel medical devices, next-generation diagnostics, healthcare services upgrades, and digital health. In 2022, Qiming completed roughly 90 investments, including hard-tech innovators like Cix Technology, Houmo Intelligence, Mify Technology, DeepWay, Insilico Medicine, Belief BioMed, OriCell Therapeutics, and Ark Biosciences — companies with high technical barriers and industrial value-add.

An Yong Waves understands that the seventh RMB fund will continue targeting "technology and consumer" and "healthcare." Kuang believes geopolitics is steering China and the US toward divergent innovation paths. In AI, for instance, China's strength in the previous wave lay in application scenarios and commercialization. This round, led by overseas large-model innovation, also presents major investment opportunities for China.

Over the past 24 months, Qiming has logged 41 IPOs. Stretching back across its 17-year history, the firm has achieved over 200 portfolio exits through IPO or M&A. Even among deep-pocketed domestic mega funds, super deals in innovative drugs have been rare — yet Qiming claims at least two.

The first was Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Qiming's inaugural biotech investment. In 2010, the company hit a three-year revenue plateau. Betting on the third-generation insulin market and the company's capabilities, managing partner Nisa Leung overrode internal dissent to make Qiming the largest investor — an industry-recognized "home run" that, in part, helped build Qiming's reputation today through a decade-long holding.

The second was Zai Lab. When Qiming invested, the team had just two people. Most institutions weren't considering novel drug R&D investments; some conducted due diligence but lacked conviction and let it go. Qiming moved decisively, aligned with Samantha Du's vision. Eighteen months later, Zai had licensed five top-tier overseas drugs; three years after that, it listed on Nasdaq.

From internet-era bets on Xiaomi, Meitian, and Bilibili to more industry-oriented plays like Gan & Lee, Tigermed, and Zai Lab — generating outsized returns on single deals, many would attribute to timing and luck. But for Qiming, which has traversed multiple cycles, standout and consistent performance comes from honed investment capabilities and continuously evolving organizational structure.

In 2022, Qiming hired 31 full-time employees, with over 20 joining the post-investment team. They provide portfolio support across strategy, research, market expansion, brand building, talent recruitment, finance and tax, and legal — deeply engaging throughout company and industry growth cycles. Previously, Qiming's investment-to-back-office ratio was 2:1; now it has reached 1:1, with back-office even slightly larger.

Managing partner William Hu believes Qiming is entering "a new development phase," focused on "strengthening Qiming's investment capabilities and post-investment empowerment as an institution." Kuang explained that the post-investment expansion reflects two factors: the market's evolving definition of post-investment value-add, and the growing fund scale enabling support teams that don't directly generate revenue.

An RMB investor who has partnered with Qiming for ten years said that for established funds with proven track records, they particularly value continuous evolution and platform-building capability. "Stagnation is dangerous in China. Past success often becomes the biggest obstacle to future success. Qiming thinks, holds conviction, and adapts to environmental changes in a winding, spiral manner — that's evolution."

Image source | Visual China

Layout | Yunxiao Guo