Changing Every Today for Tomorrow | 5Y News Monthly
The big news from last month.
5Y News Monthly
"5Y News Monthly" is a regular column from 5Y Capital. At the start of each month, we look back at the past month's news from 5Y and our portfolio companies, sharing it with friends who follow us. We hope it helps you get to know 5Y better.
01 Portfolio Company Highlights
Major news on funding, IPOs, strategic partnerships, breakthroughs, and product launches from 5Y portfolio companies.
02 5Y Capital Updates
News on 5Y honors, investor interviews, and thought leadership.
Note: Companies are listed in alphabetical order by pinyin.
01
Portfolio Company Highlights
Horizon Robotics and Hello Inc. Form Strategic Partnership
On September 11, at the 2025 Inclusion·The Bund Summit, Horizon Robotics and Hello Inc. formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will leverage their respective technical strengths based on Robotaxi operations scenarios and requirements to jointly build low-cost, high-safety, high-reliability, and high-availability intelligent driving technology — enabling commercial success for Robotaxi and setting an industry benchmark together. This partnership represents a key strategic move for Horizon Robotics, marking the comprehensive empowerment of its intelligent driving technology foundation across the full spectrum from L2 to L4 scenarios. Read more
Vastai Technologies and Zhongchuang Zhiling Launch Strategic Partnership
On September 17, 2025, Zhongchuang Zhiling Group held its intelligent transformation strategy, new product and technology launch, and renaming ceremony in Zhengzhou. At this event, Zhongchuang Zhiling and Vastai Technologies formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement aimed at advancing comprehensive business collaboration, promoting mutual development, and establishing a long-term, constructive strategic partnership. Read more
Kingsoft Office and Huawei Release Joint Solution
On September 12, Kingsoft Office and Huawei jointly released the WPS 365 integrated AI office solution in Zhuhai. Kingsoft Office CEO Qingyuan Zhang and Huawei Board Member and President of Quality, Business Process & IT Jingwen Tao, among other leaders, attended the launch ceremony. The solution integrates WPS 365's strengths in digital and intelligent collaborative office with Huawei's full-stack technical capabilities. Through the collaborative innovation of AI, software, cloud computing, and hardware, it addresses core organizational needs in knowledge asset management, collaborative office, security, and compliance — providing enterprise clients with the optimal solution for intelligent office transformation. Read more
METiS Pharmaceuticals Unveils World's First AI Nanodelivery Platform
On September 16, METiS Pharmaceuticals, a leader in AI-powered nanodelivery innovation, officially released its self-developed NanoForge — the world's first AI nanodelivery platform — at the Zhongguancun (Daxing) Cell and Gene Therapy Industrial Park. METiS co-founder and CEO Dr. Caida Lai led the company's AI, platform technology, and RNA R&D scientists in sharing NanoForge's innovative breakthroughs and pipeline development applications. Read more
XtalPi and Bochen Pharmaceutical Sign Letter of Intent
On September 24, XtalPi (2228.HK) and Hangzhou Bochen Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (stock code: 301096.SZ) announced the signing of a letter of intent for cooperation. Under the agreement, Bochen Pharmaceutical will engage XtalPi to conduct new drug R&D using its "AI + robotics" platform; XtalPi will engage Bochen Pharmaceutical for pharmaceutical research and other R&D services. Read more
StepFun Officially Releases Open-Source End-to-End Speech Model Step-Audio 2 mini
On September 1, StepFun officially released Step-Audio 2 mini, the most powerful open-source end-to-end speech model, which achieved SOTA results on multiple international benchmark test sets. It unifies speech understanding, audio reasoning, and generation in a single model, demonstrating outstanding performance in audio understanding, speech recognition, cross-lingual translation, emotion and paralinguistic analysis, and speech dialogue. It is also the first to support native speech-based Tool Calling capabilities, enabling operations such as web search. Read more
Shukun Technology's Coronary AI Receives FDA Clearance
On September 5, Shukun Technology's self-developed coronary CTA and plaque analysis AI diagnostic assistance system officially received FDA 510(k) clearance. This marks Shukun's third FDA clearance in the United States, making it the only medical AI company globally to possess full pipeline AI-assisted diagnostic capabilities for heart, head-neck, and brain — all FDA-cleared. Read more
SenseTime's SenseCore and NSFOCUS Enter Deep Partnership
On September 19, SenseCore, a leader in AI infrastructure, and NSFOCUS Technologies Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as NSFOCUS), a major information security enterprise, entered into a deep partnership. The two parties will drive deep integration of computing power and security based on SenseCore 2.0 and NSFOCUS's Fengyunwei AI security capability platform, jointly building a new-generation AI security ecosystem. Read more
AheadForm Closes New Round of Over 100 Million RMB
On September 29, AheadForm announced the completion of a new funding round exceeding 100 million RMB. This marks the company's third round this year, led by Ant Group with co-investment from Jinqiu Fund. The round also brought in well-known VC funds including Houxue Capital and HLC, as well as research institution funds such as Pengcheng Vision Fund. Existing shareholders Shunwei Capital, China Merchants Venture Capital, and Taihill continued to significantly oversubscribe. DeepBlue Capital served as exclusive financial advisor. Proceeds will primarily fund iteration of the emotional foundation model and multi-scenario application deployment. Read more
Weifen Zhifei Completes Consecutive Pre-A and Pre-A+ Rounds
On September 17, Weifen Zhifei (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of consecutive Pre-A and Pre-A+ funding rounds, totaling nearly 200 million RMB. The Pre-A round was led by Oriental Fortune Capital and Hongtai APlus, with Yari Capital participating. The Pre-A+ round was led by Meridian Capital, with Shenzhen Capital Group, Shangqi Capital, and Changshi Capital participating. Existing shareholders Lightspeed China Partners, 5Y Capital, Yinxingu Capital, Shoucheng Holdings, and Baidu Venture continued to add to their investments. The funding will accelerate the company's R&D, product iteration, team expansion, and market development, further strengthening Weifen Zhifei's leading position in embodied intelligence and swarm intelligence for aerial robotics. Read more
Pony.ai Reaches Strategic Partnership with Qatar National Transport Company
On September 5, Pony.ai announced a partnership with Mowasalat, Qatar's national transport company, to jointly advance the deployment of autonomous driving technology and vehicles in Qatar. The two parties have already commenced Robotaxi road testing in Doha, Qatar's capital. Pony.ai has localized its autonomous driving technology to adapt to Qatar's complex environment and operating conditions, enabling L4 autonomous vehicles to rapidly respond to local climate, road infrastructure, and traffic scenarios. Read more
Lei Jun's Annual Speech and Xiaomi Product Launch
On the evening of September 25, 2025, at 7 PM, Lei Jun delivered his sixth annual speech at the China National Convention Center. This year's theme was "Change." Over more than two hours of speech and annual product launches, Lei Jun shared the "changes" Xiaomi has experienced in recent years, along with the stories behind Xiaomi's car-making and chip-making efforts. Following the speech, Lei Jun unveiled the year's flagship new product: the Xiaomi 17 series. Read more
Xpeng Motors and Alibaba Cloud Sign Post-Quantum Security Technology Agreement
On September 24, Alibaba Cloud Security and Xpeng Motors formally signed a post-quantum security technology cooperation agreement. Under the agreement, Alibaba Cloud Security will become Xpeng Motors' partner in the security algorithm business domain. The two parties announced they will base their collaboration on post-quantum security algorithm projects, conducting joint R&D and expanded cooperation in automotive security algorithms, and providing users with safer and more reliable services in this domain. Read more
Xpeng Aeroht's "Land Aircraft Carrier" (X3-F) Receives Special Flight Permit in UAE
On the morning of September 10 local time, the "Land Aircraft Carrier" vehicle (X3-F) received a special flight permit in the UAE, officially commencing manned flight testing across multiple locations in the country. This also represents the first special flight permit for manned aircraft obtained overseas by a Chinese flying car company, marking a key step in the internationalization of China's low-altitude electric manned flight technology. Read more
Multiple 5Y Portfolio Companies Named to MIT Technology Review's "50 Smartest Companies"
On September 12, MIT Technology Review's "50 Smartest Companies" list was officially released, spotlighting Chinese future forces pushing boundaries. According to MIT Technology Review's definition, smart companies should possess two characteristics: smartly developing and deploying new technologies, and smartly understanding market and business opportunities. They pioneer with technological innovation, combine it with sustainable business models, and extend technology's impact globally. 5Y portfolio companies Kuaishou, METiS Pharmaceuticals, StepFun, Moore Threads, Bambu Lab, Xiaomi, and Moonshot AI made the list. Read more
02
5Y Capital Updates
5Y Capital Receives Multiple Awards from Leading Media
On September 25, Cyzone released its 2025 Most Admired Venture Capital Institutions list. For the fifth consecutive year, Cyzone has conducted this "Most Admired Venture Capital Institutions" selection, precisely identifying benchmark forces with both strong performance and industry reputation. 5Y Capital received awards for "Top 100 Most Admired VC Institutions 2025," "Top 50 in Intelligent Manufacturing," "Top 50 in Artificial Intelligence," and "Top 25 in Biotechnology." Read more
On September 17, Diyixinsheng officially released its third "AI Innovation Pioneers — 2025 China AI Industry Innovation Pioneer List." To comprehensively understand the AI industry's development status, landscape, application trends, and emerging opportunities, Diyixinsheng has conducted 18 rounds of research over 4 years, covering nearly 700 AI industry investors and CEOs, including 6 rounds of AI list research, 4 rounds of AI research report studies, and 8 rounds of AI industry investment institution research, publishing over 15 lists and reports. 5Y founding partner Qin Liu received the "2025 China AI Industry Pioneer Investor TOP30" award. Read more
On September 26, 2025, based on existing data support and research analysis, China FOF Research Center officially released its 2025 Yangtze River Delta Best Investment Institutions list at the "2025 China FOF Conference — New Cycle, New Strategy, New Opportunities" held in Wujiang, Suzhou, and held an awards ceremony. 5Y received the China FOF Research Center "2025 Yangtze River Delta Best VC Fund TOP30" award. Read more
On September 29, China Venture Capital Research Institute unveiled the "2025 China Venture Capital Industry Annual Awards · Golden Investment Awards · Mid-Year List." Since pioneering industry awards in 2005, now spanning 20 years, the Golden Investment Awards have become widely regarded as a barometer and weather vane for China's venture capital industry, thanks to their quantitative, objective data standards and selection mechanism, enjoying high authority and credibility within the industry. 5Y was named "2025 China Most Influential Investment Institution TOP100" and "2025 China Best AI & Big Data Investment Institution TOP25." Read more
The "Tech T50 — China's Pioneer Tech Investment Institutions 50" list was officially released on September 13 at the 2025 (25th) China Venture Capital Forum. The list was jointly released by Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Finance Research Institute, Shanghai Angel Club, and Pujiang Technology Review, with data support from Most Innovation Community and Ruishou Analysis. 5Y Capital was selected for the "Tech T50 — China's Pioneer Tech Investment Institutions 50." Read more
On September 11, 36Kr released its 2025 China "Top Ten Future Industries" and "Most Influential" Industry Investment Institutions. 5Y Capital received honors for "China AI Industry Investment Institution," "China New Quality Productive Forces Industry Investment Institution," and "China Life Sciences Industry Investment Institution." 5Y founding partner Qin Liu and 5Y partner Ye Yuan were named "China AI Industry Investors," while 5Y partner Kai Liu received "China Advanced Manufacturing Industry Investor." Read more
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