The Answer Isn't on the Old Map | 5Y News Monthly
The big news from last month.
5Y News Monthly
"5Y News Monthly" is a recurring 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 about 5Y portfolio companies, including funding rounds, IPOs, strategic partnerships, breakthroughs, and new product launches.
02 5Y Capital Updates
News about 5Y honors, investor interviews, and thought leadership.
Note: Companies are listed in alphabetical order by pinyin.
01
Portfolio Company Highlights
Abogen's mRNA Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine Receives FDA IND Approval
On May 9, Abogen announced that its self-developed novel mRNA cancer vaccine covering multiple KRAS mutations has received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The vaccine is indicated for solid tumor patients carrying any of five common KRAS mutations. This marks China's first therapeutic cancer vaccine targeting multiple KRAS mutations — a major advance in the highly challenging "undruggable" target space. It signals that Abogen's innovative capabilities in tumor immunotherapy have reached global leading levels, carrying significant international influence. Read more
Bota Bio Enters Strategic Partnership with Proya
On May 20, Bota Bio and Proya held a strategic partnership signing ceremony at Proya's Longwu R&D Center in Hangzhou — Proya's first strategic-level collaboration with a synthetic biology company. The two parties will focus on integrating synthetic biology with AI technology, deepening cooperation in innovative development and application of cosmetics and biomedical aesthetic materials. Read more
D-Robotics Closes $100 Million Series A
On May 28, marking one year of independent operations, D-Robotics — a subsidiary of Horizon Robotics (9660.HK) — announced the completion of a $100 million Series A round. The round drew support from numerous domestic and international investors, with Hillhouse, 5Y Capital, Linear Capital, Hermitage Capital, Unity Ventures, Vertex Growth, Monolith, Dunhong Capital, Feidian Capital, Plum Ventures, and Huangpu River Capital all participating, injecting strong momentum into D-Robotics' accelerated build-out of its embodied intelligence ecosystem. Read more
Deepexi Partners with Beijing Jianxianglong Technology
On May 23, Deepexi and Beijing Jianxianglong Technology Development reached a partnership to jointly advance the "Jianlong Group Data Governance" project. Based on Deepexi's FastData enterprise data intelligence solution, the two parties will build a data governance platform and lakehouse foundation to establish unified governance standards and optimize data quality. Focusing on key business domains including finance and marketing, they will achieve data assetization to support scientific analysis and decision-making — laying a solid data foundation for subsequent deployment of large AI models in enterprise scenarios. Read more
Kingsoft Office Forms Strategic Partnership with BGI Group
On May 7, BGI Group and Kingsoft Office completed a strategic signing in Shenzhen. The two parties will leverage their respective strengths to accelerate deep application and innovative development of AI capabilities in life science office scenarios. Attendees included Kingsoft Office CEO Qingyuan Zhang, Kingsoft Office Assistant President Zhijun Huang, BGI Group CEO Ye Yin, and BGI Group CIO Xiangqian Jin. Read more
XtalPi's Intelligent Autonomous Experiment Platform Deployed Across Multiple Industries
On May 16, XtalPi established its intelligent autonomous experiment platform powered by the convergence of "AI + robotics." By combining efficient robotic operations with advanced AI algorithms, the platform dramatically improves R&D efficiency and precision, heralding a new paradigm in experimental R&D. It also records and accumulates high-quality proprietary data assets for vertical domain large models and super AI development, driving experiment design and prediction toward greater intelligence. Read more
StepFun and ACE Studio Jointly Open-Source Music Large Model ACE-Step
On May 7, StepFun and ACE Studio officially released and open-sourced ACE-Step (Chinese name: 音跃 / "Yinyue"), a music large model. ACE-Step supports multiple fine-tuning methods including LoRA and ControlNet, flexibly adapting to downstream tasks such as audio editing, vocal synthesis, accompaniment generation, voice cloning, and style transfer — lowering the barrier to developing music AI applications. Read more
Medbanks Health Technology Enters Strategic Partnership with Ping An Health Insurance
On May 9, Medbanks Health Technology and Ping An Health Insurance held a strategic partnership signing ceremony in Shanghai. This collaboration represents a forward-looking move by both parties based on trends in the health insurance industry. It not only highlights their strategic vision but will also combine forces to establish an industry benchmark for enterprise medical management insurance services — achieving a milestone leap in the deep integration of "healthcare + insurance." Read more
SenseTime Launches "Laozi Digital Human"
On May 20, the "Laozi Digital Human" launch ceremony was held at Hangu Pass in Lingbao, Sanmenxia, Henan Province. The Laozi Digital Human is China's first AI large model-driven digital representation of an ancient Chinese sage. Developed by SenseTime in collaboration with Sanmenxia Cultural Tourism Group and the Lingbao municipal government, it represents an active exploration of leveraging technology to unlock cultural connotations and innovatively preserve excellent traditional culture. It also marks a comprehensive practice of telling cultural stories in diverse formats — a substantive step in the fusion of AI with traditional Chinese culture, pioneering new pathways for modern dissemination and immersive experiences of cultural heritage. Read more
Weifen Zhifei Completes Two Consecutive Funding Rounds
On May 14, Weifen Zhifei (Hangzhou) Technology completed two funding rounds within a single month — a multi-million RMB angel round and an angel+ round. The angel round was co-led by 5Y Capital and Shoucheng Capital, while the angel+ round was led by Lightspeed China Partners, with 5Y Capital, Shoucheng Capital, Baidu Venture, and Hangzhou Chengxi Sci-Tech Innovation Corridor Seed Fund following on. Yinxingu Capital, the seed round investor, also continued to increase its stake. Read more
Pony.ai Enters Strategic Partnership with Uber
On May 6, Pony.ai and Uber announced a strategic partnership. Pony.ai's Robotaxi services and fleet will be integrated into the Uber platform in the second half of this year, jointly accelerating the commercialization of autonomous driving technology. The collaboration will first launch in the Middle East market this year, with plans to gradually expand to additional international markets. Once live, passengers booking rides through the Uber App will have the option to select Pony.ai Robotaxi vehicles. Read more
Xpeng Motors Debuts at Milan Design Week, Officially Enters Italian Market
On May 13 Beijing time, Xpeng Motors held a strategic launch event in Milan, the "City of Design," officially announcing its entry into the Italian passenger vehicle market. To deepen local brand awareness, the company showcased its innovative technology product matrix at the main venue of 2025 Milan Design Week — the ADI Design Museum — becoming the first Chinese smart EV brand to debut at one of the world's four major design weeks. Read more
Xpeng Aeroht's "Land Aircraft Carrier" Flying Vehicle PC Application Accepted by Regulator
On May 9, Xpeng Aeroht reached another important milestone — the Production Certificate (PC) application for its "Land Aircraft Carrier" flying vehicle (code name: X3-F) was formally accepted by the Central and Southern Regional Administration of Civil Aviation of China, marking the beginning of regulatory review of the flying car product's mass production system. Read more
02
5Y Capital Updates
Qin Liu and Fei Zhang Named to 2025 Forbes Midas List
On May 27, the 2025 Forbes Midas List — known as the "Golden Touch" ranking of the world's best venture capitalists — was released. The annual Midas List is compiled using a data-driven methodology combining public information with submissions from hundreds of VC firms. Eligibility criteria include: companies supported by the investor that have gone public, been acquired for at least $200 million, or reached a valuation of at least $400 million (having at least doubled from a previous round) within the past five years. 5Y Capital founding partner Qin Liu and partner Fei Zhang both made the list. Read more
5Y Capital Wins Multiple Awards from Diyixinsheng
On May 28, Diyixinsheng released its Q1 2025 China's Most Active Institutions series rankings. Diyixinsheng continues to focus on early-stage investment institutions, venture capital firms, private equity firms, financial advisors, and LPs in the primary market, evaluating from multiple dimensions including investment, fundraising, exits, IPOs, service transactions, tech post-investment support, and market influence to produce its Investment China — China Investment Institutions series rankings. 5Y Capital was named to both the "China's Most Active Venture Capital Firms TOP30" and "Most Active AI Investment Firms TOP10" lists. Read more
72-Hour AI Survival Challenge Successfully Held in Shanghai
After more than two months of preparation, the first cohort of "AI Survival Explorers" gathered in Shanghai from May 15–18, 2025, to embark on a 72-hour AI survival challenge. From hundreds of applications, we selected eight participants: Gen Z college students, AIGC creators, serial entrepreneurs, AI PhDs, internet product managers, independent developers, and big tech employees. Each brought their own questions, skills, and curiosity to explore a room with no food, no smartphone, no browser, no apps — only AI tools. For more details, follow 5Y Capital's official WeChat account for follow-up coverage.
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