On Y Transformers, We Spent 20 Questions with Crossroads You Care About | Please Answer 1998
Not Just Investing in People, But Recruiting Them Too
Yesterday, we officially launched recruitment for "Y Transformers" 👋 — and received nearly 50 applications within six hours, plus a flood of DMs with questions.
"Why focus on post-'98s? What kind of founders are you actually looking for? How do you select projects?……"
Many of the points you care about happened to come up in our recent chat with Koji from "Crossing." If you want to know more, feel free to reach out anytime~
And a quick plug 📢:
We're not just looking to invest in young AI founders — we're also searching for more young AI investors (not strictly post-'98s 😄) to discover, accompany, and run alongside the next generation of changemakers.
Here's who we're looking for
✨ Genuinely obsessed with AI — you deeply use various AI tools daily; not just proficient, but truly believe AI is reshaping everything; ✨ We don't care about investment experience or deal count — what matters is whether you have an AI-first mindset and the drive to act on it; ✨ Whatever prompts you've written, workflows you've built, or real problems you've solved with AI — we want to hear all about it.
We believe: the next generation of AI founders who truly get AI will likely be discovered by investors who truly get AI.
📮 Send your resume + AI practice sharing to: hr@yunqi.vc
Suggested email subject: 【Y Transformers｜Investor Application - Name - City】 We'll read every email carefully 🙌
Below is our full conversation with "Crossing"
20 questions about Y Transformers, answered in one go.
Enjoy👇
👦🏻 Interviewer: Koji
🥷 Editor: Belulo
🧑🎨 Layout: NCon
In 2025, China's AI venture capital scene is marked by both hype and divergence. As foundation models evolve, countless capital and entrepreneurs have poured into the application layer, seeking the next super entry point in this technological wave.
At a moment when every VC is shouting "All in AI," Yunqi Capital announced a notably concrete initiative: the launch of "Y Transformers." The program allocates RMB 100 million in dedicated capital, explicitly targeting young AI entrepreneurs born in 1998 or later, with promises of fast decision-making, founder-friendly terms, and comprehensive early-stage resources.
What is the Y Transformers program? Why should entrepreneurs pay attention? And why aim specifically at the post-'98 generation? With these questions, Crossing sat down with Linda, Managing Director at Yunqi, to understand the logic and value judgments behind Y Transformers.
We've also attached the full program introduction at the end of this interview. Interested entrepreneurs are welcome to learn more.
Y Transformers: To the Next Generation of Changemakers
👦🏻 Koji (Founder, Crossing)
First, pitch Y Transformers to AI founders?
👩🏻 Linda (Managing Director, Yunqi Capital)
Y Transformers is a dedicated investment initiative by Yunqi specifically for post-'98 AI entrepreneurs. We're bringing RMB 100 million in real money, plus a "startup toolkit" including computing power, office space, and other essentials for early-stage building, to find high-potential young founders on the AI path.
Simply put: if you're working on something AI-related and genuinely cool, we want Yunqi to be the first one standing beside you.
👦🏻 Koji
The Y Transformers budget is RMB 100 million. How many projects do you plan to invest in? Over what timeframe?
👩🏻 Linda
Roughly 20-25 projects, to be deployed over the next 6-12 months.
👦🏻 Koji
This year every VC is actively investing in AI. In this "all-hands-on-deck" moment, why did Yunqi feel the need to launch a dedicated program for young entrepreneurs? How does it differ from Yunqi's main fund's direct investments?
👩🏻 Linda
It's true — almost every VC is talking AI today. But zoom in and you'll find most still focus on "higher-certainty" projects: models that have already proven themselves, commercial paths that are relatively clear, then placing bets.
In our extensive contact with entrepreneurs in their 20s, we've found that large language models have dramatically lowered technical barriers. They're the most active and action-oriented group in this AI entrepreneurship wave. They carry little traditional baggage, naturally possess AI-first thinking, and building with AI is almost "instinctive" for them.
This approach also energizes our own team. Our younger investment colleagues naturally understand young people's lifestyles and can resonate more strongly with these founders. We also hope Y Transformers creates more growth opportunities for this new generation of investors.
From a market perspective, AI applications have been accelerating since last year. Both startups and tech giants are exploring application innovation atop increasingly cost-effective base model capabilities; on the demand side, more young users are willing to pay for AI applications. This means it's genuinely the right timing for young entrepreneurs to enter.
To clarify: Y Transformers isn't an entirely new fund, but an extension and externalization of our existing philosophy. Yunqi's overarching logic has always emphasized finding the intersection between macro industry trends and team advantages. Y Transformers puts greater emphasis on the "people" dimension: we want to support young, high-potential changemakers at the idea stage. So we also want this program to make our stance abundantly clear:
We believe in young people's potential to create magic in AI.
👦🏻 Koji
The name "Y Transformers" is interesting — any special meaning behind it?
👩🏻 Linda
Y is the first letter of Yunqi's English name, also the first letter of Young, and a homophone for Why (representing curiosity). Transformers, on one hand, pays tribute to the core AI architecture Transformer; on the other, it signifies transformation and reinvention.
The most direct reference — the Transformers are, well, Transformers.
Put together, the message is: we hope to join forces with the next generation of AI changemakers, using curiosity and action to become a force that changes the world.
👦🏻 Koji
What kind of AI entrepreneurs do you most hope Y Transformers will invest in?
👩🏻 Linda
We most hope to invest in founders who are "fast," "light," and post-'98.
Fast — reflected in execution speed and learning curve. With large models lowering technical barriers, they can land ideas in the shortest time and iterate rapidly.
Light — meaning no path dependence, not much historical baggage. They're willing to team-build, develop, and collaborate in new ways.
Post-'98 isn't just age, but a generational trait. They grew up in an environment where AI was already everywhere — true "AI natives" who naturally treat AI as a productivity tool. This generation is defining AI, not adapting to AI.
Fast, Light, Post-'98: The First Check, The First Partners
👦🏻 Koji
Y Transformers mentions "2-3 week fast decision-making per project." What specific process redesign or authorization did the team implement to achieve this speed?
👩🏻 Linda
Under the Y Transformers mechanism, internal discussion and decision-making processes are significantly shortened. Broadly speaking, investing typically requires simultaneous judgment on "people" and "things": is the person reliable, has the thing shown traction?
But many of the post-'98 entrepreneurs we focus on may not yet have clear product forms — perhaps just an idea or initial demo. In this case, our core judgment focuses on the person: do they have AI-first thinking, are they exceptionally action-oriented, are they someone we're willing to bet on? Combined with our team's long-term research and investment accumulation, we can immediately validate when encountering new teams and directions, rather than starting from zero.
Hence the process can be fast. But this doesn't mean quality control is relaxed. Fund-level gatekeeping remains; we've simply frontloaded and focused the core decision logic, allowing the team to give clear answers within 2-3 weeks.
👦🏻 Koji
Does this imply compromise on risk management?
👩🏻 Linda
Internally, we do allow certain flexibility: for Y Transformers projects, the process is faster and lighter, but boundaries remain on amount size, partner consensus, etc., ensuring fundamental risk management.
Most importantly, our core judgment always returns to "people." If we identify a young entrepreneur with the traits we value, we're willing to give sufficient space and trust; on risk management, we also balance through portfolio construction, stage distribution, and overall fund allocation.
👦🏻 Koji
What's the profile of Yunqi team members participating in Y Transformers? Are their ages and backgrounds close to the entrepreneurial generation?
👩🏻 Linda
The core investment team members participating this time are mostly post-'90s and post-'95s. Their professional backgrounds span top domestic and international STEM programs, plus experience in overseas markets and product roles. Like their post-'98 founder counterparts, their social development accompanied the emergence and rapid evolution of large models — a generation that naturally embraced AI tools and can more easily understand founders' thinking as peers.
So this isn't just investor-investee relationship; it's more like peer-to-peer, dialogue between the same generation.
👦🏻 Koji
Another highly attractive point for founders is "light": more founder-friendly investment terms designed for startups. What specifically does this entail? Why do you think this matters so much for young entrepreneurs today?
👩🏻 Linda
By "light" we mean investment terms that maximize these founders' room to experiment and explore freely.
On one hand, many post-'98 founders may have just left school or the lab and need this space. On the other, we've seen too many entrepreneurs in the current environment burdened by term pressure, diverting energy that should go to product and users.
So without violating the fund's core processes and investment discipline, we take "innovation first" as our guiding principle, designing friendly terms across structural dimensions and project control rights.
👦🏻 Koji
Can you give examples — SAFE, valuation anchoring, board seat arrangements?
👩🏻 Linda
Term design still depends on specific projects; after all, as a fund we have basic risk control requirements. But the core philosophy is clear: minimize constraints while balancing risk control, letting founders move light.
On valuation, for instance, we won't demand premature locking of unreasonable anchors, instead leaving room for teams to experiment quickly on product and users. Overall: on the foundation of reasonable fund risk control, let founders devote precious time and energy to rapid product iteration and user feedback.
👦🏻 Koji
Are there clear "won't do's" — like not demanding early ratchets or setting heavy liquidation preferences?
👩🏻 Linda
Yes, those points align with the core philosophy I just mentioned. No early performance ratchets, no liquidation preferences — these help prevent young entrepreneurs from carrying excessive burden from day one. We want these young founders focused on rapid iteration of product and users, not spending excessive time and energy on term negotiation. Real value comes from building things together.
👦🏻 Koji
I noticed you specifically proposed "post-'98" — very precise, more specific than the common "post-'95" or "Gen Z." Why this exact cutoff?
👩🏻 Linda
Because the growth trajectory, or career trajectory, of the post-'98 cohort happens to coincide with key inflection points of this Gen-AI wave.
In 2017, the Transformer architecture was proposed, fundamentally changing the deep learning paradigm; in 2020, GPT-3 emerged and large models truly entered public consciousness. At that time, post-'98s were precisely in university or just graduating. In other words, their stage of independent study and work almost synchronized with AI's paradigm leap.
This means from day one of entering society, they've lived in an "AI-first" environment — unlike previous generations who had to "turn around and learn AI." They're the generation born treating AI as a productivity tool. We hope this label emphasizes that what we most believe in is this generation of true "AI natives."
👦🏻 Koji
What post-'98 teams have you already met (or invested in)? How do their communication styles and product thinking differ from previous generations?
👩🏻 Linda
We've observed several distinctive traits:
They have sharp insight in emerging domains, often driven by interest to explore to the extreme; strong hands-on ability, quickly turning ideas into prototypes.
They think out of the box, unconventional and bold. We've also observed that the new generation of AI entrepreneurs prefers small-team or even solo founder setups, pushing "AI employees" to the limit.
Meanwhile, as natives of social media and AI, they naturally understand how to leverage rich communication channels and tools to get their strengths seen faster and more broadly.
👦🏻 Koji
Beyond the generational trait of "post-'98," what founder qualities matter most when you evaluate a very early-stage AI project?
👩🏻 Linda
When evaluating very early-stage AI projects, what we value most is actually the founder's idea and traits.
With today's rapidly lowering technical barriers, "how to do it" is no longer the hardest part — "what to do" is the dividing line. What truly matters is whether the founder can propose unique ideas, find directions imaginative enough yet pain-point-accurate, and act fast.
So we focus on three things:
- AI-first mindset — instinctively treating AI as a toolbox and way of thinking, not just an additional skill.
- Creativity and obsession — the passion and endurance to continuously refine a direction.
- Rapid experimentation and action — turning ideas into prototypes quickly and iterating relentlessly.
👦🏻 Koji
Are there traits you "absolutely won't invest in"?
👩🏻 Linda
We don't require founders to have mature products or clear profit models from the start, but several traits are absolute dealbreakers:
Speculative mentality — just riding hype waves, lacking genuine technical or product thinking;
Lack of execution — having ideas but never landing them;
Lack of long-term commitment — easily pivoting when difficulties arise, unable to persist in a fuzzy but correct direction.
Yunqi: An Institution and Its Value Proposition
👦🏻 Koji
In this year's AI application entrepreneurship surge driven by DeepSeek and Manus, what specific opportunities do you see that are overlooked or drowned out by mainstream voices?
👩🏻 Linda
Mainstream discussion may focus heavily on general Agents. Beyond the spotlight, here are a few opportunity areas we see:
AI Infra beneath the surface: policy-driven + compute demand + enterprise investment driving AI infrastructure growth opportunities;
Deep waters of the application layer: not building the next "general assistant," but going deep in specific vertical industries to build AI-native industry-specific workflows;
Organizational restructuring brought by Agents: many treat Agents as tools, but the bigger opportunity may be in how they transform enterprise operations and even spawn entirely new organizational forms.
👦🏻 Koji
How does Yunqi view the two paths of AI application software versus AI-native hardware? For Y Transformers, will you lean more toward one type of entrepreneur?
👩🏻 Linda
We believe AI application software and AI-native hardware are complementary paths, not in opposition.
With technical barriers rapidly lowering today, the software side may better suit young entrepreneurs to experiment quickly with small teams; the hardware side requires longer cycles and heavier investment, because beyond technical feasibility and PMF, supply chain capability is often the key determinant of whether hardware succeeds.
But whether software or hardware, returning to the source, "product definition" is the starting point that makes things different.
For Y Transformers, we won't artificially limit. What we care more about is the entrepreneur's thinking mode and unique ideas: if in software, we want to see them break out of homogenization, truly integrating AI into workflows and user scenarios; if in hardware, we want them to rethink products with AI-first logic, not simply layering AI onto traditional hardware.
👦🏻 Koji
Which of Yunqi's past investments align with the Y Transformers ethos?
👩🏻 Linda
Over the past decade-plus, quite a few cases resonate with the Y Transformers ethos. Two examples:
Manycore Tech. In 2013, when the founding team had only a demo and neither product form nor business model was set, our founding partner saw their potential in home design and became the first institutional investor. Today, Manycore has grown into a leading smart home design company, also opened new opportunities as an "embodied intelligence data training ground" in the embodied intelligence wave, and is approaching IPO.
MiniMax. When we met them in 2021, GPT hadn't broken mainstream, and "large model entrepreneurship" was still a non-consensus topic. But the team articulated a clear AGI vision and demonstrated extreme obsession with technology and product. We decided to bet then, and they quickly grew into one of the most representative foundation model companies domestically and globally, and among the most commercially advanced AI startups.
👦🏻 Koji
In your view, what do young AI entrepreneurs need most today? Compared to Yunqi's early investments in Xiaohuang Huang of Manycore and Junjie Yan of MiniMax, what similarities and differences do you see in today's entrepreneurs' state and needs?
👩🏻 Linda
The greatest commonality between today's young AI entrepreneurs and Manycore a decade ago, MiniMax a few years ago: that gutsy drive to break new ground. Today's post-'98 founders are similarly carving new possibilities in their own way.
But differences are also pronounced:
First, they face more intense competition — in an "everyone's doing AI" environment, today's young people face more crowded arenas than before;
But greater room to land ideas — because large models and open-source tools lower barriers, making it easier to turn ideas into products;
Plus a higher starting point for globalization — today's post-'98s naturally have global collaboration and overseas expansion in their DNA;
And in pace and psychological challenge — today's rhythm is faster; young entrepreneurs must both experiment rapidly and maintain endurance and steadiness in long-term races.
So we can say, today's young AI entrepreneurs can run faster, but the track is more crowded; tools are richer, but differentiation is harder; global opportunities are greater, but challenges are more complex.
👦🏻 Koji
Final question: if an excellent AI entrepreneur receives multiple term sheets simultaneously, what reasons do you hope would lead them to choose Yunqi (and Y Transformers)?
👩🏻 Linda
For Yunqi, over these 11 years, one of our most important starting points has been "together." Yunqi's pinyin abbreviation is YQ, which is also the abbreviation for "together" (一起). And for 11 years, what we've emphasized with entrepreneurs is doing hard things together.
Under this peer-to-peer relationship, we fully respect entrepreneurs in terms, letting them move light; in resources you can see our full sincerity, providing tangible support that early-stage portfolio companies need; meanwhile, our "Yunqi Partners" across the portfolio span from large models to hardware, and they will become partners to Y Transformers, forming real synergistic networks.
So if asked why choose Yunqi, I think the answer is:
Here, what you get isn't just money, but a group of partners who genuinely want to "run together" with you.
Y Transformers is a dedicated initiative by Yunqi Capital for the next generation of AI changemakers, focusing on supporting early-stage "AI native" entrepreneurs born in 1998 or later. The program is jointly launched by Yunqi alongside 10+ long-term partners who have accompanied young entrepreneurs, with a total capital pool of RMB 100 million to support 25 post-'98 AI startup teams over the next 6-12 months.
Y Transformers will provide entrepreneurs with:
- First investment: real early-stage startup capital;
- First batch of resources: covering computing power, model APIs, office space, talent recruitment and other key support;
- First community of peers: a network from top VCs, AI founders, and industry ecosystem.
The mechanism emphasizes "fast, real, comprehensive, light" — decisions within two weeks, real capital investment, comprehensive resources, founder-friendly terms.
Y Transformers hopes to become the first light for the next generation of AI changemakers, together turning question marks into forces that change the world.
Whether you've just launched your project, haven't raised funding yet, or are polishing your demo and fixing bugs — as long as you're using AI to change the world, we look forward to Y Transformers walking alongside you.
