October is full of hope and fervor | 5Y News Monthly
The major events 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 involving 5Y Capital itself and our portfolio companies, sharing it with friends who follow us. We hope it helps you get to know us better.
01 Portfolio Company Highlights
Major news about our portfolio companies' fundraising, IPOs, strategic partnerships, breakthroughs, and product launches.
02 5Y Capital Updates
News about 5Y Capital's honors, investor interviews, and thought leadership.
Note: Companies are listed in alphabetical order by pinyin.
01
Portfolio Company Highlights
ACE Virtual Singer Closes Pre-A Round
ACE Virtual Singer has closed a multi-million-dollar Pre-A funding round led by ZhiChun Capital, with existing investor 5Y Capital continuing to participate. ACE Virtual Singer is a music creation app powered by AI vocal synthesis technology. Its parent company, Beijing Shiyu Technology, is dedicated to empowering users with a new music engine for UGC music creation and distribution. By connecting structured data across the creation and consumption ends, the company aims to build a new music supply chain and potentially revolutionize music media formats and consumption experiences in the future. Read more
bosie Closes New Round of Hundreds of Millions of RMB
Emerging designer brand bosie announced in September that it has closed a new round of funding worth hundreds of millions of RMB, with Bilibili and 5Y Capital as investors, and existing shareholder GSR Ventures following on. The proceeds will go toward product R&D and supply chain upgrades. Founded in 2018, bosie has adhered to a "Beyond Boundaries" brand philosophy from the start, advocating the breaking of constraints and limits. Its retro, witty, and quirky style has quickly won broad recognition from Gen Z consumers. Read more
HAI ROBOTICS Closes Two Consecutive Rounds Worth Over $200 Million
HAI ROBOTICS, a global leader in Autonomous Case-Handling Robotics systems, announced in September that it has completed two consecutive funding rounds worth over $200 million. The Series C was led by 5Y Capital, with HSG, Source Code Capital, VMS Group, Walden International, and Potential Energy Capital following on. The Series D was led by Capital Today, with Sequoia Capital, 5Y Capital, Source Code Capital, Legend Star, and 01VC following on. The funds raised will be used to enhance technical capabilities and product strength, expand globally, and build out supply chain management and organizational infrastructure. Read more
CREATER Technology Closes B2 Round
CREATER Technology, a digital service provider for commercial real estate, closed a nearly RMB 100 million Series B2 round in September, led by Trustbridge Partners, with YiBai Capital serving as exclusive financial advisor. The funds will primarily go toward R&D and business expansion. 5Y Capital previously led the company's Series B and continued to support it in the B1 round. Read more
Kuaishou Receives "China Charity Award"
September 5 was China Charity Day. Kuaishou received the 11th "China Charity Award" from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, recognizing its outstanding contributions in philanthropy and COVID-19 pandemic response. The China Charity Award is the highest government honor in China's charity sector, presented once every two years to commend individuals, teams, donating enterprises, charitable projects, and charitable trusts that have made outstanding contributions to charitable activities, with the aim of encouraging and guiding all sectors of society to support and actively engage in philanthropy. Read more
ONES Closes Series C
5Y Capital portfolio company ONES recently announced the completion of a $50 million Series C round. This came just over two months after ONES announced in late June that it had completed RMB 300 million Series B1 and B2 rounds. The round was led by GIC, with existing shareholders Source Code Capital and XVC following on for three consecutive rounds. YuanYi Capital served as exclusive financial advisor. As an early investor in ONES, 5Y Capital has supported the company across four consecutive rounds. Read more
CESI and SenseTime Establish Joint AI Computing and Chip Evaluation Lab
At the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, SenseTime joined Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the China Electronics Standardization Institute, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and industry partners to establish the "Artificial Intelligence Computing Industry Ecosystem Alliance." In September, the alliance held its first general meeting in Shanghai. At the meeting, CESI (the Fourth Research Institute of Electronics under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) and SenseTime jointly announced the establishment of the "CESI-SenseTime Joint Lab for AI Computing and Chip Evaluation," aimed at advancing the standardization of AI chip testing standards at home and abroad. Read more
Agora's "Supersonic Plan" Entrepreneur Camp Kicks Off
On September 4, Agora and 5Y Capital co-hosted the "Supersonic Plan" entrepreneur camp in Shanghai's Wujiaochang district. Entrepreneurs from across industries — social, entertainment, education, healthcare, and enterprise collaboration — gathered to share their understanding of the RTE (Real-Time Engagement) industry and their own entrepreneurial journeys. Read more
Xiaomi Automobile Co., Ltd. Registered and Established
On September 1, Xiaomi Automobile Co., Ltd. was registered and established with registered capital of RMB 10 billion, with Lei Jun personally serving as legal representative. This marks the first major milestone in Xiaomi Auto's growth. Earlier, at a March 2021 press conference, Lei Jun stated that Xiaomi would invest $10 billion in carmaking over the next decade, with initial investment of RMB 10 billion, and that he would personally lead the effort, staking his entire reputation on the battle for Xiaomi Auto. Now, with Xiaomi Automobile Co., Ltd. formally established, the company will continue to accelerate forward. Read more
Xpeng Motors Unveils First Smart Robotic Horse
On September 7, Xpeng Motors officially announced a new addition to its ecosystem — Shenzhen Pengxing Intelligent Research Co., Ltd. — and unveiled the third-generation prototype of its first smart robotic horse, internally codenamed "Little White Dragon." As an Xpeng Motors ecosystem company, Pengxing Intelligent will apply automotive systems and thinking to empower the R&D and manufacturing of intelligent robots. The smart robotic horse unveiled this time achieves technological breakthroughs over previous quadruped robots in power modules, motion control, intelligent driving, and smart interaction, and is the world's first rideable smart robotic horse, carrying Pengxing Intelligent's vision for a better future life. Read more
Fliggy Makes Strategic Investment in Xiaozhu Minshu
On September 22, Fliggy announced a strategic investment in Xiaozhu Minshu (Xiaozhu Homestay). The two parties will also enter into deep strategic cooperation to explore more comprehensive solutions for the long-term, sustainable development of the homestay industry and enrich users' homestay consumption options. The investment amount and Fliggy's equity stake have not been disclosed. Read more
YunYou Freight Closes Tens of Millions of Dollars in B+ Round
YunYou Freight announced in September that it has completed a B+ round of tens of millions of dollars, led by 5Y Capital, with BlueRun Ventures and Haochen Capital following on, and XingYun Capital serving as exclusive financial advisor. YunYou Freight is a smart logistics solutions provider whose core business is self-operated dedicated freight vehicles powered by AI algorithms. This round of funding will accelerate the transition of its business from self-operated to open platform. Read more
5Y Capital Updates
What Does "Imagination" Taste Like? | An Invitation from 5Y Coffee
5Y Coffee may be the coffee that best understands entrepreneurs. Inspired by a team-building trip to northwest Yunnan, we use coffee from Yunnan, China to salute entrepreneurs' "madness," "belief," and "imagination."
Welcome to start a crazy entrepreneurial adventure with a cup of 5Y Coffee. They say entrepreneurs who drink "Madness" can overcome any challenge; after "Belief," fundraising goes unbelievably smoothly; and after "Imagination," you can recruit whoever you want :) Read more
5Y Capital's Ye Yuan and Kai Liu Make 36Kr's "36 Investors Under 36" List
On September 16, 2021, 36Kr released its "2021 36 Investors Under 36" list. 36Kr noted that the list, to a certain extent, represents the 36 life circumstances of this generation of investors — and indeed the "pillars" of this era. 5Y Capital Partner Ye Yuan and Partner Kai Liu made the list. Read more
5Y Capital Receives Multiple Annual Awards from 36Kr, ChinaVenture, and Cyzone
In September, 36Kr announced its annual investor rankings. 5Y Capital Founding Partner Qin Liu and Partner Fei Zhang were named to the "2021 TOP 100 Most Entrepreneur-Friendly Investors in China" list. 5Y Capital was selected as one of the "2021 TOP 10 Most Entrepreneur-Friendly VC Firms in China." 36Kr also released its 2021 China innovation economy rankings across eight sectors. 5Y Capital Founding Partner Jianming Shi made the "2021 TOP 20 Healthcare Investors in China" list. 5Y Capital Partner Fei Zhang made the "2021 TOP 20 Frontier Technology Investors in China" list. 5Y Capital was selected as one of the "2021 TOP 20 Healthcare VC Firms in China" and "2021 TOP 20 Enterprise Service VC Firms in China."
In September, ChinaVenture released its annual investor rankings. 5Y Capital Founding Partner Qin Liu was named "2020 No. 2 Best Venture Investor," "2020 Best Return Investor in China," and "2020 Best Internet Industry Investor." 5Y Capital Partner Fei Zhang was named "2020 TOP 50 Best Venture Investor," "2020 Best Return Investor in China," and "2020 Best AI Industry Investor." 5Y Capital Partner Ye Yuan was named "2020 TOP 100 Best Venture Investor" and "2020 Best Return Investor in China."
Cyzone announced its 2021 list of most admired VC firms in China, with 5Y Capital making the list. Read more
5Y Capital (formerly Morningside Venture Capital) currently manages approximately RMB 32 billion in dual-currency USD and RMB funds. 5Y Capital seeks out, supports, and inspires lonely entrepreneurs, providing them with support from the spiritual to the operational. We believe that if the you whom others see as crazy begins to be believed in, the world will become a different place.
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