New Listings and New Funding: 10 Developments in the Height of Summer | FreeS Family Funding News Vol.19

The "FreeS Family Funding News" column publishes periodic updates on funding rounds raised by FreeS Fund portfolio companies. In addition to our new investments, we also cover follow-on rounds for companies already in our portfolio. Together, we witness every step of innovative companies' journey from 0 to 1, from 1 to 10, and from 10 to 100. Highlights from this issue:

• Biotech and pharma: FreeS angel-round project Yanming Biotech raised hundreds of millions of RMB in its Series A+ round, with FreeS Fund continuing to invest; FreeS Series A project XtalPi listed on the main board of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; FreeS angel-round project METiS Pharmaceuticals raised $100 million in its Series C round; FreeS angel-round project Xinyong Technology raised tens of millions of RMB in its Series A round, with FreeS Fund participating; FreeS angel-round project Genimune Bio successfully completed a new funding round; FreeS seed-round project Vibrotronics raised nearly 100 million RMB in its Series A+ round, with FreeS Fund making an outsized follow-on investment.
• Hard and soft tech: FreeS angel-round project LightStandard raised nearly 100 million RMB in its angel+ series round, with FreeS Fund investing; FreeS angel-round project LimX Dynamics completed a new strategic funding round; Hangkai Microelectronics raised tens of millions of RMB in its angel round, with FreeS Fund as the sole investor.
• Consumer and TMT: Ice Whale Technology raised tens of millions of RMB in its Pre-A+ round, led by FreeS Fund.

(This summary is limited to funding information publicly disclosed between March 2024 and June 2024, sorted by the date each company's funding news was made public.)

▲ Image source: LightStandard

FreeS angel-round project LightStandard raised nearly 100 million RMB in its angel+ series round, with FreeS Fund investing.

**/ What the Investors Say / **

FreeS Fund has long been optimistic about and continues to invest in the photonics field. Light, as a carrier that simultaneously transmits both information and energy, has broad application prospects in processing, imaging, and computing. Regarding computing specifically, as application demands increasingly push for greater computing power, electronic chips are gradually approaching physical limits. Optical computing has the potential to break through the constraints of traditional computing chips in high-speed computing, particularly in artificial intelligence, and become a foundational next-generation computing technology.

LightStandard, through its research and application of novel optical modulation methods, demonstrates tremendous application potential in optical computing, communications, and other fields. Under the macro trend of "optics in, copper out," we believe LightStandard can become a core enterprise in all-optical information systems.

**/ Company Details / **

As foundational infrastructure for artificial intelligence, computing power currently remains in a state where supply falls short of demand, and the gap continues to widen. Beyond GPUs, the industry is urgently seeking alternative computing solutions — optical chips are one such option. Compared to traditional optical computing approaches, LightStandard's PCM+Crossbar route offers stronger advantages, enabling higher integration and lower power consumption.

On the product front, LightStandard's OPU (Optical Processing Unit) chip has maintained rapid iteration, with three tape-outs completed to date. Notably, the interface and instruction set in LightStandard's product design remain highly compatible with existing data centers, meaning this chip will be able to adapt to large models currently on the market.

Regarding the founding team, two of LightStandard's founders are post-95s. Co-founder Yinjiang Xiong holds a Master's in Computational Science from the University of Chicago, with development and market experience at Google's AI framework TensorFlow, and is responsible for team management and business operations. Co-founder Tangsheng Cheng studied under Harish Bhaskaran, the world's foremost authority on phase-change material optical computing, a professor of materials at Oxford University and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and is responsible for R&D breakthroughs and engineering implementation; the latter also serves as the company's chief advisor.

Other core R&D team members previously worked at Hesai Photonics, Qualcomm, ESWIN, Zeku, and other companies, all as leaders in their respective divisions, with extensive experience in R&D and industrial implementation. (For full coverage, see 36Kr Pro: Developing photonic computing chip OPU, "LightStandard" completes nearly 100 million RMB angel+ round | 36Kr Exclusive)

▲ Video source: LimX Dynamics WeChat video channel

FreeS angel-round project LimX Dynamics completed a new strategic funding round.

**/ What the Investors Say / **

General-purpose intelligent robots, including humanoid, quadruped, and wheeled-legged forms, are the physical vehicles that carry AI's perception and interaction with the real world. The combination of AGI intelligence and humanoid robots has driven an explosion in both technology development and commercial expectations. Humanoid robots are not simply the combination of manipulation and locomotion; they require the collaborative construction of AI and embodied technology to build a complete humanoid foundation model.

The LimX Dynamics team has deep foundational expertise in AI combined with motion control technology, and is advancing robot technology from mutually independent perception, decision-making, and control toward an organically integrated foundational model. We look forward to seeing the LimX Dynamics team remain at the industry's forefront, driving the continuous development of general-purpose robot technology and products, and in the near future crossing the threshold of commercialization.

**/ Company Details / **

LimX Dynamics is a general-purpose robotics company focused on the R&D and manufacturing of advanced software and hardware, covering full-size humanoid robots, wheeled-legged robots, bipedal robots, and related solutions. Its applications focus on B2B and B2C domains including intelligent manufacturing, industrial inspection, logistics and delivery, special operations, and home services. (For full coverage, see [PEDaily: General-purpose robotics startup "LimX Dynamics" completes new strategic funding round])

**/ Recommended Reading / **

▲ Image source: Yanming Biotech

FreeS angel-round project Yanming Biotech raised hundreds of millions of RMB in its Series A+ round, with FreeS Fund continuing to invest.

**/ What the Investors Say / **

Since its founding, Yanming Biotech has rapidly established itself as a globally leading scientific platform in innate immunity and tumor immunology, built on solid, high-efficiency scientific achievements and a clear disease-to-translation strategy. The company has made breakthrough progress across multiple novel, high-difficulty targets and programs. Its research addresses critical unmet medical needs worldwide, with immeasurable significance for human health and substantial commercial value. FreeS Fund will continue to steadfastly support original innovation from China, and remains firmly committed to backing Yanming Biotech as it writes a new chapter in Chinese pharmaceutical innovation.

**/ Company Details / **

Yanming Biotech was co-founded by Academician Feng Shao and Dr. Tianjing Deng. Its scientific foundation rests on Academician Shao's globally leading biological discoveries in innate immunity and pyroptosis. The company focuses on tackling key medical challenges in inflammation and oncology that remain unresolved, with the mission of developing revolutionary innovative drugs for these conditions. It is dedicated to becoming a globally leading Chinese biotech company built upon Chinese scientists' discoveries and driven by original innovation, bringing the benefits of China's original innovations to patients with inflammation and cancer worldwide.

Yanming Biotech has established a group corporate structure, with Beijing serving as headquarters and R&D center for small-molecule immunomodulatory drugs, Shanghai as R&D center for biological immunomodulatory drugs, and the United States as its BD and clinical center. The company currently stands at the forefront of innate immunity as a scientific platform, developing small molecules and biological molecules targeting multiple novel targets related to inflammasomes or pyroptosis to upregulate or downregulate inflammatory responses. This opens new possibilities for treating diseases involving excessive immune activation such as cytokine storms, inflammatory bowel disease, and sepsis. Additionally, by inducing pyroptosis in tumor cells to recruit and activate immune cells, enhancing their recognition and killing of tumor cells, the company aims to solve the challenge of low response rates in current tumor immunotherapy.

The company currently has ten R&D programs with entirely novel mechanisms and novel targets, all first-in-class globally, with multiple programs having achieved breakthrough progress. Among these, the ALPK1 agonist PTT-936 received FDA approval in November 2023 and is now in clinical studies in the United States; several innate immune inhibitor and pyroptosis inhibitor programs have identified PCC candidates and are advancing through preclinical development. (See report: Yanming Biotech Pyrotech: Yanming Biotech Announces Completion of Hundreds of Millions of RMB in Series A+ Financing)

▲ Image source: XinYong Technology official website

FreeS angel-round project XinYong Technology raised tens of millions of RMB in its Series A round, with FreeS Fund continuing to invest.

**/ What the Investors Say / **

Achieving continuous, accurate, and imperceptible blood pressure monitoring is a holy grail in medical measurement, requiring disruptive innovation and design. XinYong has combined pressure and photoelectric sensing in hardware, and hemodynamics with machine learning in algorithms, to achieve clinically precise wearable blood pressure measurement. The team has demonstrated exceptional ability to solve complex problems at the intersection of medicine and engineering, along with strong execution and commercial acumen.

We look forward to the launch of a watch that matches the accuracy of electronic blood pressure monitors while enabling real-time measurement, enabling better blood pressure management and fewer cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

**/ Company Details / **

Founded in 2020, XinYong Technology's co-founder Yibin Li graduated from the Department of Microelectronics at Tsinghua University and has devoted more than ten years to blood pressure monitoring. Co-founder Yaoguang Wei leads algorithm development for hemodynamic modeling and signal compensation tuning. Founding partner Wu Wen primarily drives sensor design, process development, supply chain, and system hardware development while overseeing project execution.

While continuous monitoring technologies for physiological indicators such as blood glucose (CGM) and blood oxygen have matured and created substantial market value, blood pressure — equally important — has remained constrained by the lack of an ideal technical solution, making continuous monitoring difficult. XinYong Technology attempts to achieve continuous, imperceptible blood pressure data collection through a composite sensor array, combined with fluid dynamics algorithm models for blood pressure signal analysis, with AI-based compensation and correction. (See report: 36Kr Pro: "XinYong Technology" Raises Tens of Millions in Series A Funding, Upgrading and Scaling Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring Products | Early Stage Watch)

▲ IceWhale Technology product: ZimaCube. Image source: IceWhale Technology

IceWhale Technology raised tens of millions of RMB in its Pre-A+ round, led by FreeS Fund.

**/ What the Investors Say / **

IceWhale Technology's NAS products target niche professional segments including content creators and small-to-medium studios, with potential to break into broader markets.

In the near term, the explosion of creators across long- and short-video platforms demands storage products that simultaneously offer massive capacity, collaborative workflow, and ultra-fast transmission — functions that NAS products integrate. Looking further ahead, as local AI deployment, smart homes, and household intelligent robots become widespread, NAS devices that combine private data with computing capability and gateway functionality represent highly suitable AI terminal devices.

IceWhale Technology founder Lauren is a product manager who pursues perfection, with prior experience defining well-known products in the space and a particular strength in grasping consumers' nuanced needs across different scenarios. On the product front, from the open-source system CasaOS to the new ZimaOS, IceWhale has withstood market testing over two years with over 500,000 operating system installations; building on this, the company has cultivated a community of technology enthusiasts and developers actively contributing to the NAS application ecosystem. ZimaCube was specifically designed to meet content creators' transmission and collaboration needs, reflecting the team's deep understanding and control of user requirements. Furthermore, ZimaCube integrates localized AI Agent hardware and software capabilities, and will work with developers and Chinese chip manufacturers to further explore local AI deployment.

**/ Company Details / **

Founded in August 2020, IceWhale Technology initially focused on audio/video content creators and geek users, and is gradually expanding to serve home users with consumer-grade private cloud solutions. In November 2023, building on the smooth progress of both its hardware and open-source system projects, IceWhale launched its flagship private cloud device ZimaCube on the overseas crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, targeting NAS users and creators' material management needs. ZimaCube raised $1.2 million in crowdfunding, making it one of Kickstarter's Top 30 projects of 2023.

With the rapid evolution of the large model industry, AI edge applications combining private data with large models have gradually entered mainstream awareness. ZimaCube's built-in GPU and Llama large model, combined with RAG and Stable Diffusion technologies, provide creators with convenient script file management, gallery material processing, and image generation capabilities. Through ZimaOS system-level Chat services, small studios can more easily aggregate privatized multi-user documents, retrieve information, and build their own team knowledge bases.

In terms of community operations, IceWhale has also gathered a global community of enthusiasts through Discord, IceWhale Forum, and Reddit platforms, exploring and exchanging ideas about storage management, workflows, Local LLM, Agent, and diverse gaming and service application scenarios in private deployments. ZimaCube will begin global market deliveries this month. (See full report: Hard Kr: NAS Private Cloud Vendor IceWhale Technology Raises Tens of Millions in Pre-A+ Round After Raising Millions in Overseas Crowdfunding | Hard Kr Exclusive)

**/ Related Content / **

‍▲ Video source: XtalPi video account. FreeS Fund's Series A project XtalPi listed on the Main Board of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited.

**/ Investor Commentary / **

Congratulations to XtalPi on its successful IPO! As one of the earliest teams capable of leveraging computation and AI to improve drug discovery efficiency, XtalPi's founding team has always firmly believed in the future of AI-driven drug development. It is this strong conviction, combined with the ability to consistently deliver results, that has enabled XtalPi to win the support of many clients and investors.

Equally important is XtalPi's breakthrough in datafication. Having experienced the era of AI drug development 1.0 together, both XtalPi and FreeS Fund believe that the bottleneck in AI drug development lies in datafication. Without high-quality data, even the best models cannot be deployed. XtalPi therefore pushed to introduce robots into the wet lab process, deploying hundreds of robots of various models for chemical experiments in Shenzhen and Shanghai, creating new digital infrastructure. Based on this, XtalPi has gradually formed a technical framework of quantum computing + AI + robotics, successfully boarding the train of the AI drug development 2.0 era.

Furthermore, XtalPi has conducted extensive exploration in commercial deployment. In addition to providing solutions for different modules throughout the drug discovery and research process, XtalPi has achieved steady growth in its small molecule, large molecule, and robotics businesses, and has gained recognition from MNCs (multinational corporations), well-known domestic pharmaceutical companies, and synthetic biology enterprises.

Gen AI (generative AI) is the greatest technological breakthrough of this era, and AI + biomedicine is one of the most important application directions of Gen AI. By introducing embodied intelligence robots into biochemical laboratories and applying generative AI to drug R&D, we look forward to seeing XtalPi continue to empower companies in its ecosystem, constantly bringing new drugs and new materials.

Congratulations to XtalPi! We hope that standing at the new starting point of Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Chapter 18C, XtalPi will continue to do what is right rather than what is easy, becoming an outstanding enterprise that balances both social value and commercial value.

**/ Company Details / **

QuantumPharm Inc. (the "Company" or "XtalPi"; stock code: 2228.HK) was founded in 2015 by three postdoctoral physicists from MIT. It is an innovative R&D platform powered by quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

The Company combines quantum physics-based first-principles calculations, artificial intelligence, high-performance cloud computing, and scalable and standardized robotic automation to provide drug and materials science R&D solutions and services to global and domestic companies in industries including pharmaceuticals and materials science (encompassing agricultural technology, energy and novel chemicals, and cosmetics). (See full report: XtalPi: XtalPi Lists on Main Board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange, AI + Robotics Creates First Chapter 18C Stock)

**/ Content Recommendations / **

▲ Structure of small nucleic acid conjugate drugs

Image source:迦进生物. FreeS Fund's angel round project 迦进生物 successfully completed a new round of financing.

**/ Investor Commentary / **

Ideal drugs typically possess high therapeutic indices and low dosing requirements, making "targeted delivery" a focus of current drug development. Since its founding, 迦进生物 has made significant progress in building molecular conjugation and delivery systems. Addressing two major industry challenges — extrachepatic delivery of small nucleic acid drugs and blood-brain barrier drug delivery — 迦进生物 has pioneered the development of antibody-small nucleic acid conjugate drugs in China, and built a proprietary brain-penetrating peptide technology platform. We look forward to 迦进生物's innovative drugs achieving continuous validation and breakthroughs in the clinic.

**/ Company Details / **

迦进生物 is a biotech company engaged in innovative drug R&D, founded in January 2022. It holds complete independent intellectual property rights in two core technology areas: antibody-small nucleic acid conjugate drugs and brain delivery. 迦进生物 has a 600-square-meter R&D laboratory in Zhangjiang and a wholly-owned subsidiary in Suzhou. The company maintains a flat organizational structure with a high signal (R&D) to noise (management) ratio operating model, with its first pipeline expected to enter clinical trials in 2024.

迦进生物 focuses on drug conjugation and delivery technologies, pioneering the development of antibody-small nucleic acid conjugate drugs in China, filling the gap in extrachepatic delivery of nucleic acid drugs and bringing hope to patients with neuromuscular diseases who have long faced a lack of medical treatments. Additionally, 迦进生物's brain-penetrating peptide — Brainferry platform — has the potential to assist large molecule drugs including small nucleic acids in crossing the blood-brain barrier, bringing transformative treatment to a broader range of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. (See full report: 迦进生物 Completes New Round of Financing, Continues to Lead New Chapter in Drug Delivery)

▲ METiS Pharmaceuticals core technology. Image source: METiS Pharmaceuticals official website

FreeS Fund's angel-round portfolio company METiS Pharmaceuticals has raised $100 million in Series C funding.

/ What the investors say /

Congratulations to METiS Pharmaceuticals on completing its Series C round. METiS has defied the funding winter to raise $100 million, bringing its total funding to $300 million. Leveraging its AI-powered drug delivery platform, METiS has advanced its lead pipeline to Phase 3 clinical trials, with its mRNA immunotherapy pipeline expected to enter clinical trials this year. Additionally, METiS is co-developing programs with multinational corporations targeting systemic muscle, brain, immune organs, and tumors. We look forward to seeing METiS ride the momentum of AGI, nucleic acid, and gene therapies to excel at delivery, develop outstanding medicines, and write a new chapter.

/ Company details /

METiS Pharmaceuticals, founded in 2020, is an innovative biotechnology company that uses AI to drive drug delivery and drug discovery.

METiS aims to more efficiently and precisely advance innovative drug R&D by integrating novel AI, machine learning, and quantitative simulation technologies with pharmaceutical development — enabling more effective design of novel delivery materials, candidate drug selection and formulation design, "programmable nucleic acid drug" development, and nucleic acid delivery design — to bring revolutionary medicines to patients worldwide and address unmet clinical needs. (For more details, see METiS Pharmaceuticals: Focused on "AI + Drug Delivery," Completes $100 Million Series C Round)

▲ Image source: Vibrotron official website. FreeS Fund seed-round portfolio company Vibrotron has raised nearly RMB 100 million in Series A+ funding, with FreeS Fund making an additional follow-on investment.

/ What the investors say /

Traditional optical imaging is approaching physical limits, with optical manipulation and computational optics emerging as the new frontier.

Vibrotron's core technology platform is built on stimulated microscopy imaging. Drawing on its deep understanding of optical nonlinear effects, the company breaks through the sensitivity and speed limitations of conventional methods through precise light source control and high-throughput computing power, enabling non-destructive, non-invasive, high-precision quantitative material imaging and analysis for the future. Moreover, as a leading Chinese company in advanced optics and microscopy technology to achieve mass production and shipment, Vibrotron is beginning to carve out a position in the ultra-high-end optical instrument market historically dominated by foreign players.

Vibrotron represents FreeS Fund's investment at the intersection of computing and optics. We look forward to the company continuing to leverage its advanced technology platform and innovation capabilities to explore, advance, and break new ground in optical technology — achieving comprehensive breakthroughs from biology to medicine, from clinical to industrial applications.

/ Company details /

Vibrotron is a high-tech company focused on molecular vibration spectroscopy technology innovation, dedicated to building high-end domestic spectroscopic analysis and imaging products and precision medical diagnostic platforms.

Founded in 2017, Vibrotron's subsidiaries include Zhendian (Suzhou) Medical Technology Co., Ltd. and Weipeng (Suzhou) Medical Device Co., Ltd. The company has received national high-tech enterprise certification, Suzhou Industrial Park Science and Technology Leading Talent recognition, and second prize in the China Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

The company's core team has accumulated years of R&D experience in spectroscopy technology, optical imaging, and optoelectronic analysis, with globally leading and independently controllable technical capabilities. It holds over 10 self-developed core patents and 16 exclusive licensed patents from world-renowned research institutions.

The company currently has over 1,000 square meters of R&D and production facilities, with robust design and development systems and quality control systems in place. It has obtained medical device quality system certification and GMP system certification. (For more details, see Vibrotron Completes Nearly RMB 100 Million Series A+ Round to Accelerate Commercialization and Industrial Solutions Development)

▲ Image source: Hangkai Microelectronics official website

Hangkai Microelectronics has raised tens of millions of RMB in angel funding, with FreeS Fund as the sole investor.

/ What the investors say /

The robotics industry is exploring and advancing toward a future of general intelligence. The realization of robotic "brain" and "cerebellum" functions depends on sensors as the "sensory organs" that perceive the surrounding environment and the robot's own working state. As the hardware foundation for robots to achieve force feedback control capabilities, sensors are the components that perceive force — the fundamental physical quantity for robot interaction. In the past, constrained by the sensing principles of traditional mechanical strain gauges, multi-dimensional force sensors suffered from large size, manual-dependent manufacturing processes, and high costs, slowing their adoption in the robotics industry.

Dr. Gai has over 20 years of R&D experience in the aerospace sensor industry. Hangkai Microelectronics has not only achieved cost reduction in mechanical six-axis force sensor design, but more importantly, has leveraged its understanding of MEMS sensor design and manufacturing processes to reimagine multi-dimensional force sensors in an entirely new form factor through MEMS-based "chipization."

We look forward to the Hangkai Microelectronics team advancing the chipization of force sensors and, in the future, bringing highly automated processes, highly integrated, and cost-competitive force sensor products to humanoid robots, intelligent manufacturing, and industrial equipment — driving the evolution of "force control" across multiple scenarios.

/ Company details /

"Hangkai Microelectronics" was founded in October 2021, focusing on the R&D of force-related sensors. Its current products include silicon-based MEMS accelerometers and multi-dimensional force sensors (six-axis force sensors).

At present, six-axis force sensors are gradually being used in the development and production of humanoid robots, with ankle and wrist joints requiring installation of six-axis force sensors to measure load weight and enable smooth motion control, ensuring overall system precision.

"Hangkai Microelectronics" has mature experience in silicon-based MEMS accelerometer design and processes. Its next step in multi-dimensional force sensor development involves the organic integration of metal-based sensors with silicon-based MEMS technology to develop compact, high-precision, low-cost MEMS multi-dimensional force sensors suitable for micro-force, micro-scale, and multi-sensor fusion intelligent force control systems. (For more details, see 36Kr Pro: "Hangkai Microelectronics" Raises Tens of Millions of RMB in Angel Funding for Multi-Dimensional Force Sensor R&D and Production | 36Kr Exclusive)

▲ Congratulations on XtalPi's Successful IPO: FreeS Fund's Research-Driven Approach, Learning to Invest by Investing

▲ Li Feng in Conversation with Ji Yu: Understanding NVIDIA, Deconstructing NVIDIA, Challenging NVIDIA

▲ The Road to Embodied Intelligence | FreeS Report 37

▲ Li Feng in Conversation with Zhang Wei, Founder of LimX Dynamics: Humanoid? Robot?

▲ How Far Is Embodied Intelligence from Reality: Hype, Bubbles, Technology Frontiers, Commercialization

▲ Four Funding Updates Arriving with Spring | FreeS Family Funding News Vol.18

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