Yunqi Capital Partners with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to Launch AI Angel Fund, Offering Full-Stack Support for Entrepreneurs

➤➤ On April 20, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (hereafter "SJTU") officially launched its inaugural AI-themed week. Xie Dong, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, and other government officials; Ding Kuiling, President of SJTU, and other university leaders; Yao Qizhi and E Weinan, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and representatives from SJTU's industry alumni attended the opening ceremony.

The ceremony unveiled the "SJTU AI Industry Innovation Support Initiative," with the "SJTU-Yunqi AI Angel Fund" formally announced as one of its programs.

△ SJTU AI Week event

AI-Focused, Early-Stage Dedicated

Tapping the SJTU Alumni Network

The "SJTU-Yunqi AI Angel Fund" was established by Yunqi Capital in partnership with SJTU's School of Artificial Intelligence (hereafter "the School of AI") and SJTU Engineering Research Institute of Industrial Technology. The fund targets startup and early-stage AI technology companies, with a focus on cutting-edge directions including large model industry applications, embodied intelligence, and AI chips (investment scope is not limited to SJTU alumni), aiming to create shared value among the university, market institutions, and industry.

SJTU's technology industry alumni network spans the globe, serving as the connective tissue for the "SJTU-Yunqi AI Angel Fund" to reach high-potential early-stage ventures more broadly.

On the day of the event, the third council list of the SJTU AI Alumni Association was announced. Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant Group, serves as president; Wang Yanfeng, Executive Dean of the School of AI, serves as executive president; and founding partner of Yunqi Capital, Wang Jialiang, Executive Dean of SJTU Engineering Research Institute of Industrial Technology, Allen Zhu, Managing Partner of GSR Ventures, Xu Li, Chairman and CEO of SenseTime, and Hong Feng, Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Xiaomi, serve as vice presidents alongside other academic and industry investment figures.

Leveraging SJTU's Advantaged Resources

Full-Stack Support for AI Entrepreneurs

During the "Peak Dialogue: How AI Startups Can Break Through" session, founding partner of Yunqi Capital engaged in conversation with Xu Li, Chairman and CEO of SenseTime. He noted frankly that the challenges facing AI entrepreneurs today are unlike any before — requiring not only strong technical foundations but also deep commercial acumen — and that helping entrepreneurs fill capability gaps and providing diverse support is what investment institutions need to do in the current environment. This is also the original intention behind Yunqi's partnership with SJTU's advantaged resources to jointly launch the AI angel fund.

Cutting-edge AI research exploration is a standout strength of the School of AI. Established as a scientific innovation platform by Shanghai Municipality and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the school is committed to producing internationally influential original and disruptive entrepreneurial outcomes, and is currently assembling an academic team of 100 top scientists.

Incubating teams from 0 to 1 is the specialty of the SJTU Engineering Research Institute of Industrial Technology. Co-founded by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai's Xuhui District as a high-quality AI incubator, it actively provides AI startup teams with comprehensive AI resources spanning talent, computing power, technology, and workspace. For example, it helps entrepreneurs reduce MVP and PMF validation costs across the full stack from applications/middleware (large models)/infrastructure (Infra), and provides startup teams with self-developed intelligent agents and the latest AI tools.

Over the past decade-plus, Yunqi Capital has maintained systematic deployment across all segments of the AI industry chain, accumulating deep understanding of its investment domains and capital markets through previous entrepreneurial cycles, as well as developing international strategic vision and industry resources. Its AI portfolio includes large model company MiniMax, autonomous driving company DeepRoute.ai, AI companies that have achieved scaled revenue in industry applications such as Manycore Tech (Kujiale) and XTransfer, as well as startups covering multiple segments of the embodied intelligence industry chain.

"We hope to combine the School of AI's cutting-edge technology exploration, the SJTU Engineering Research Institute of Industrial Technology's innovation incubation, the university's global alumni network, and Yunqi's more than ten years of accumulation in investment and industry circles to provide more full-stack services for AI entrepreneurs broadly," he said.

Technological progress is the sustained force driving the era forward. We look forward to leveraging the three-in-one advantages of "frontier research + commercial incubation + industry investment resources," along with comprehensive post-investment empowerment services spanning talent, R&D, and global expansion, to help more AI entrepreneurs break barriers, overcome challenges, navigate cycles together, and enable more innovation to take root and flourish.