You Yourself Are the Newest Year | 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 in the hope of helping you get to know us better.
01 Portfolio Company Highlights
Major news about financing, IPOs, strategic partnerships, breakthroughs, and new product launches from 5Y portfolio companies.
02 5Y Updates
News about 5Y honors, investor interviews, and thought leadership.
Note: Companies are listed in alphabetical order by pinyin.
01
Portfolio Company Highlights
Horizon Robotics Officially Open-Sources Sparse4D Algorithm
Advancing Toward End-to-End Autonomous Driving
On January 22, Horizon Robotics open-sourced its industry-leading pure vision autonomous driving algorithm — the Sparse4D series — inviting more developers across the industry to join the exploration of cutting-edge directions such as end-to-end autonomous driving and sparse perception. The Sparse4D algorithm is now available on GitHub; developers can follow Horizon Robotics' official GitHub account for the source code. Read more
Keep and OPPO Reach Strategic Partnership
On January 15, OPPO officially announced a strategic partnership with leading online fitness platform Keep, launching in-depth collaboration across multiple areas. The partnership will focus primarily on R&D for core components, algorithms, AIGC and large model technology applications, and brand marketing. This cooperation means OPPO and Keep will combine their respective expertise in technology and health. Through shared technology and resources, both sides are committed to delivering superior products and services for users. Read more
Kuaishou and Trip.com Group Reach Strategic Partnership
On January 17, Trip.com Group and Kuaishou jointly announced a strategic partnership. Under the agreement, Trip.com Group will enter the Kuaishou local lifestyle ecosystem for the first time, providing Kuaishou users with high-quality, diverse travel products and services. In return, Kuaishou will offer a package of benefits including traffic boosts, product subsidies, and influencer collaborations. Both sides will use discounted travel deals, quality travel content, and attentive travel services to build a more comprehensive local lifestyle experience. Read more
Moore Threads Releases MTVerse XR
On January 10, Moore Threads officially announced MTVerse XR, a new product in the XR space and the first XR system built entirely on domestic hardware and software. According to the company, MTVerse XR is a virtual reality XR (VR/AR/MR) suite accelerated by Moore Threads' full-function GPU, capable of streaming OpenXR-based applications to XR devices via high-performance networking and USB. Read more
SenseTime and Qianhai Sci-Tech Innovation Group
Build Intelligent Computing Center Together
On January 3, Qianhai Sci-Tech Innovation Group and SenseTime established a joint venture, "Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Intelligent Computing Technology Co., Ltd.," to build the "Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Computing Center." The first phase represents a total investment of 466 million RMB, with planned computing power of 500P (FP16) — equivalent to 50 exaflops of AI computing per second. It will become the largest investment and operations-scale, highest-computing-power intelligent computing center in the Pearl River Delta region currently, composed entirely of NVIDIA H800 chips. Read more
Xiaoice Partners with DingTalk
Launches One-Click Custom Digital Human Video Service
On January 9, DingTalk and Xiaoice reached a partnership; DingTalk has integrated Xiaoice's digital humans, supporting one-click customization of digital humans for video content production. Going forward, both sides will explore comprehensive collaboration across DingTalk video accounts, livestreaming, video conferencing, and AI assistants, advancing full-scenario deployment of digital human applications within DingTalk. Read more
Nansha Launches Driverless Commercial Autonomous Driving Pilot
Pony.ai First to Deploy
Recently, Nansha District in Guangzhou launched a commercial autonomous driving pilot with unmanned vehicles, with Pony.ai as the only company selected for the program. "Driverless operation at scale is a prerequisite for the autonomous ride-hailing industry's business model to work, and that depends on the dual support of relevant policies and corporate technology," said Jun Peng, co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai. Only when fully driverless vehicles can carry passengers and charge fares like regular taxis can both economic and social benefits be realized. Read more
Xiaomi Reaches Partnership with CCTV
Recently, Xiaomi announced a formal partnership with China Media Group, becoming the first "Human-Car-Home Full Ecosystem" strategic partner nationwide, cementing its status as "China's top car brand." Under Lei Jun's leadership, Xiaomi Auto has shown the potential to reshape the competitive landscape of the auto industry in the future. Now, with Xiaomi Auto joining forces with CCTV, Mi fans and car enthusiasts have even more reason to look forward to the Xiaomi SU7. Read more
Xpeng Motors Reaches Strategic Partnership with TÜV Rheinland
Driving New Energy Vehicles Toward Greater Value
In January, TÜV Rheinland Greater China, an international independent third-party testing, inspection, and certification organization, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co., Ltd. Both sides will pursue long-term collaboration in vehicle, system, and component testing and certification, safety assessment, core quality tools, and professional talent development, as well as extended industry applications — enhancing Xpeng Motors' overall vehicle safety and quality levels, jointly advancing new energy vehicles in South China and across China onto the world stage amid the electrification and intelligent transformation wave, and creating new development opportunities for Chinese automakers "going global." Read more
Xpeng Motors' Flying Car Debuts at CES North America
Xpeng Motors' integrated land-air flying car made its debut at the 2024 International Consumer Electronics Show in January — the first international appearance of Xpeng's integrated flying car since its launch in October last year. Tan Wang, co-founder and VP of Xpeng's flying car unit, announced at the press conference that another "Land Aircraft Carrier" modular flying car will open for reservations in Q4 this year, with mass production and delivery planned to begin in Q4 next year. Read more
Xinchen New Materials Completes 100-Million-RMB B1 Round
On January 8, Anhui Xinchen New Materials Co., Ltd. announced the completion of its B1 round, raising nearly 100 million RMB. The round was led by 5Y Capital, with CASSTAR and Hefei Innovation Investment following. Proceeds will go toward capacity building, product R&D, and market expansion. Founded in December 2021, Xinchen New Materials is a supplier of lithium salts for lithium battery electrolytes, focused on the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of novel electrolyte lithium salts and additives. Its main products include LiFSI (lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide), NaFSI, LiODFB, and LiBOB. Read more
Multiple 5Y Portfolio Companies Named to 2023 Venture50 Lists
On January 16, 2024, the 2023 Venture50 results were announced, organized by Zero2IPO (1945.HK) and PEDaily. The awards maintained their dual-list structure of the风云榜 (Established Companies) and 新芽榜 (Emerging Companies) TOP 50, plus five industry-specific lists. The风云榜 recognizes unlisted companies at Series B or beyond, or founded before 2020; the新芽榜 recognizes unlisted companies at Series B or earlier, founded after 2020. 5Y portfolio companies Horizon Robotics, Pony.ai, and Xinhuazhang were named to the 2023 Venture50风云榜, while Jizhi Robotics and Jaguar Micro were named to the新芽榜. Additionally, multiple 5Y portfolio companies — bosie, Horizon Robotics, Snack Busy, Daily Dark Chocolate, moody, StartDT, Pony.ai, River Stone Technology, Xinhuazhang, XVerse, and Jaguar Micro — were named to various sector-specific TOP 30 lists. Read more
02
5Y Updates
How Do Consumer Brands Navigate Cycles?
— 5Y View x Make Essense x Surpine
This conversation centers on stories of consumer entrepreneurship. Make Essense founder Weiqiang Huang, Surpine founder Bing Zhao, and 5Y Capital partner Ye Yuan reflect on shifts in the consumer market. The two founders share their entrepreneurial journeys, experiences, and insights. Topics include how brands connect with consumers, lessons learned from world-class consumer brand companies, what matters most in the current environment, and perspectives on the future. Read more
5Y Wins Multiple Awards from Zero2IPO, China Venture Capital Research Institute, Qimingpian, and Other Media
In late December 2023, Zero2IPO released its 2023 China Equity Investment Annual Rankings. Since 2001, Zero2IPO has published these rankings for 23 consecutive years, adhering to rigorous research methodology and fair, impartial ranking standards, aiming to provide a sound evaluation and reference system for China's equity investment industry. 5Y was named to the "2023 China Top 30 Venture Capital Firms." Read more
On January 24, Qimingpian released its 2023 China Top 100 Investors list, recognizing the backbone of the venture capital market — those who remain optimistic and hold firm amid change and volatility, discovering and driving the birth and growth of more innovative Chinese companies with keen market insight, and contributing significantly to China's equity investment industry. **5Y Capital founding partner Qin Liu and partner Fei Zhang were named to the "2023 China Top 100 Investors" list. Read more**
On January 18, Rongzhong Caijing released its 2023 China Equity Investment Rankings, honoring rising stars who emerged through industry cycles and industry leaders who held their ground against headwinds. **5Y was named to the "Rongzhong 2023 China Top 30 Venture Capital Firms." Read more**
On January 24, the China Venture Capital Research Institute unveiled its 2023 China Venture Capital Industry Annual Awards — Golden Investment Awards year-end list, with four major categories (early-stage, VC, PE, and LP) covering 21 sub-lists. The awards comprehensively evaluated fundraising, investment, portfolio management, exits, and overall influence, recognizing investment institutions with outstanding performance and contributions in China's venture capital industry over the past year. **5Y was named to the "2023 China Top 50 Most Influential VC Firms." 5Y Capital founding partner Qin Liu was named to the "2023 China Top 50 Most Influential Investors." Read more**
On February 1, 2024, tech media outlet Xiaofanzhuo released its "Foresight · 2023" institutional rankings. Maintaining principles of fairness and impartiality, the list mapped out top 30 investment lists by stage and sector, as well as leading investment firms in specific verticals. **5Y was named to the "2023 Top 30 Venture Capital Firms" and "2023 Top 20 Advanced Manufacturing Investment Firms." Read more**
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