April, When All Things Grow | 5Y News Monthly
Looking back at last month's big events, ready to take on Q2 with full confidence.
5Y News Monthly
"5Y News Monthly" is a regular column from 5Y Capital. At the beginning of each month, we look back at the past month's news from 5Y Capital and our portfolio companies, sharing it with friends who follow us in the hope of giving you a deeper understanding of 5Y.
Contents:
01 Portfolio Company Highlights
Major news on funding, IPOs, strategic partnerships, breakthroughs, and new product launches from 5Y portfolio companies.
02 5Y Updates
News on 5Y honors, investor interviews, and thought leadership.
Note: Companies are listed in alphabetical order by pinyin.
01
Portfolio Company Highlights
Cashify Closes $15M Series D
Indian secondhand electronics marketplace Cashify closed a $15 million Series D round in March, led by Asia Environmental Partners, a fund managed by Olympus Capital. This brings Cashify's total funding to $42 million. 5Y Capital led its Series C in 2018. Read more
ClickPaaS Closes Tens of Millions of Dollars in Series B
Global leading low-code platform ClickPaaS officially announced in March that it had closed a Series B round of tens of millions of dollars in December 2020. The round was co-led by BAI Capital and SIG Asia Investments, with follow-on from Series A+ investor Future Capital and Series A investor 5Y Capital. Proceeds will go toward accelerating product R&D, strengthening technical moats, expanding the partner ecosystem, accelerating commercialization, and growing overseas markets to solidify ClickPaaS's position as the industry's most advanced low-code platform. Read more
HAI ROBOTICS Closes 100M+ RMB Series B+
Warehouse robotics company HAI ROBOTICS announced in March that it had closed a Series B+ round of over 100 million RMB, led by 5Y Capital with follow-on from existing investors Source Code Capital and Walden International. Shining Capital continued as exclusive financial advisor. Proceeds will be used to strengthen product R&D and organizational capabilities, enabling rapid iteration of R&D projects, improving customer service and expertise, and cementing HAI ROBOTICS's leadership in autonomous case-handling warehouse robot systems. Read more
Kuaishou Becomes Official Live Streaming and Short Video Platform of CBA League
On March 16, CBA League (Beijing) Sports Co. and Kuaishou Sports jointly announced that Kuaishou has become the official live streaming and short video platform of the CBA — China's top men's professional basketball league. This deepens the copyright-level partnership between the CBA and Kuaishou following their 2019 collaboration. The copyright agreement covers both current-season live games and classic match replays, giving viewers multi-dimensional access to CBA content anytime, anywhere. Read more
Chocday Closes Two Consecutive Rounds Totaling 100M+ RMB
New consumer brand Chocday recently closed two consecutive rounds — a Series A+ and Series B — totaling over 100 million RMB. The A+ was led by Source Code Capital with follow-on from existing investor Greenwoods Capital and participation from iQIYI. The Series B was led by 5Y Capital with follow-on from existing investors Source Code Capital and Yuanxing Capital. Proceeds will go toward team building, product R&D, and brand investment. Chocday had just closed a $4.5 million Series A in early 2020. Read more
oatoat Closes Tens of Millions of RMB Series A
Plant-based protein drink brand oatoat closed a Series A round of tens of millions of RMB, led by 5Y Capital with follow-on from existing investors China Growth Capital and IMO Ventures. Proceeds will be used primarily for offline channel expansion and brand building. This marks oatoat's third funding round since launching in September 2020. Read more
Xpeng Motors Receives 500M RMB Strategic Investment from Guangdong Industry Development Fund
In March, Xpeng Motors announced a strategic partnership with Guangdong Yuecai Investment Holdings Co., under which the Guangdong Industry Development Fund will invest 500 million RMB in Xpeng Motors subsidiary Guangzhou Chenxing Zhidong Automotive Technology Co. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors, said: "As a Guangdong-based company, Xpeng Motors has always embraced the innovative spirit of Guangdong enterprises and is committed to exploring the future of mobility. In the coming years, we hope to make everyone's travel safer, greener, more technologically advanced, and more efficient." Read more
Uino Closes Nearly 100M RMB Funding Round
Commercial intelligent decision-making leader Uino announced in early March that it had closed a funding round of nearly 100 million RMB, led by 5Y Capital with participation from SAIC Hengxu, BFC Capital, and Zhongnan Capital. Proceeds will further strengthen Uino's technical advantages in operations research optimization, recruit top operations research talent, deepen vertical focus in this domain, refine its algorithm, product, and service systems, accelerate commercialization of intelligent decision-making solutions, enhance vertical capabilities and scalability, and further expand its industry lead. Read more
ZanSi Closes Tens of Millions of RMB Series B
Shanghai ZanSi Catering Management Co. ("ZanSi") closed a Series B round of tens of millions of RMB from 5Y Capital and IDG Capital. In its early days, ZanSi focused on the "Mr. Soup" delivery brand, targeting the healthy fast-food market with additive-free slow-cooked soups and healthy grain bowls for consumers. At the end of 2020, ZanSi entered the compound seasoning赛道, soon launching the vertical brand "Wei Laodi" targeting young people who aren't skilled at cooking, offering them more flavorful solutions. Read more
Zhuben Closes Two Rounds Totaling $50M
Aromatherapy skincare brand Zhuben completed two consecutive rounds in March — a Series A (first close) and Series B — totaling $50 million. The Series A was led by Yuanjing Capital with follow-on from 5Y Capital and Qianyue Capital. The Series B was led by YuanSheng Capital with follow-on from Yuanjing Capital and 5Y Capital. Qianyue Capital served as exclusive financial advisor. Proceeds will be used for product R&D, supply chain reserves, brand building, and team expansion. Read more
02
5Y Updates
"The First Person to Bet on Kuaishou"
5Y Capital Partner Zhang Fei Interviewed by Renwu Magazine
Last month, 5Y Capital partner Zhang Fei sat down for an exclusive interview with Renwu magazine. The piece offers a look at the investment world through Zhang's eyes — a deeper story that encompasses not just success, but also misses and failures. Beyond Kuaishou, he was an early investor in PPS, Miaopai, Maimai, Xueqiu, SenseTime, and Pony.ai.
Zhang Fei said: "Pain, loneliness, and anxiety may be the destiny of entrepreneurs in this era. But I like to say that pain is the greatest potential energy. How do you feel when you're climbing a mountain? Tired, exhausted, mentally drained. If you're in pain, it means you're going uphill. The periods of fastest growth in your life are absolutely the most painful ones. I believe all pain, all negative signals, are clearer signals to me than happiness." Read more
5Y Capital Director Xutian Jing: Why AI Drug Discovery Is Taking Off
Last month, Leiphone's Medical AI Gold Rush interviewed Xutian Jing, Director at 5Y Capital. In the interview, Jing shared his insights on AI-powered drug discovery.
Jing noted that the trajectory of AI drug discovery may be fundamentally different from all previous medical AI applications. Past AI-assisted diagnosis was primarily about efficiency gains — improving speed and reducing costs for doctors who already had diagnostic capabilities. AI drug discovery, by contrast, creates entirely new supply relationships through novel targets and molecules, identifying better drug structures to tackle unsolved diseases and create new drug assets and incremental markets. Read more
5Y Capital (formerly Morningside Venture Capital) currently manages approximately $3 billion across USD and RMB dual-currency funds. We believe that if the you whom others see as crazy starts to be believed in, the world will be a better place.
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