Eleven Breakthroughs in Early Summer: Even Now That We're Grown Up, We Still Believe "Creating Is Endlessly Fun" | FreeS Fund Blackboard · May
Every bit of growth is worth commemorating.
FreeS Fund's May newsletter — sharing the latest updates with our long-term friends and partners:
- FreeS Fund continued its follow-on investment in Zhi Guan's Series B round.
- FreeS Fund invested in MaiFei Technology, expanding our AI footprint into agriculture.
- Bluepha completed its Pre-A round, with FreeS Fund continuing its support.
- SaiFeng Technology raised tens of millions of RMB, with angel investor FreeS Fund following on.
- FreeS Fund invested in Singleron, strengthening our position in technology-driven healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
Good news from the FreeS family:
- Deep Tech: Tmall Genie set-top box launched, powered by SoundAI technology.
- Consumer: Shenma closed 300 million RMB Series C to improve mobility for 800 million rural residents; Tingjiandan completed Series B+ led by Ant Group; Three Squirrels partnered with Alibaba's retail distribution platform to embrace new retail.
- Awards: Three Squirrels made the Most Popular Chinese Brands list; DeepCare won the 2018 Big Data Expo's "New Product" award for leading sci-tech achievements.
As a young fund, FreeS Fund will keep our heads down, push forward, stay curious about the unknown, and look forward to meeting more innovators doing extraordinary things.
FreeS News
1
FreeS Fund Follows On in Zhi Guan's Series B
On May 30, Zhi Guan announced the completion of its Series B round worth tens of millions of RMB. Legend Capital led the round, with angel investor FreeS Fund continuing its support. The funds will primarily go toward expanding into new product categories.
Founded in 2015, Zhi Guan built its brand around "amino acids" as a healthy ingredient, starting with shampoo to enter the personal care market. In March 2016, it launched its mild and nourishing amino acid hair care line. By September 2017, it had expanded into amino acid body wash and facial cleanser. According to CEO Tang Liang, category extension is Zhi Guan's near-term priority. (See: [36Kr] Zhi Guan Raises Tens of Millions in Series B, Plans Offline Expansion Next Year)
2
FreeS Fund Invests in MaiFei Technology,
Betting on AI in Agriculture
On May 21, precision agriculture AI service provider MaiFei Technology announced 25 million RMB in Pre-A funding. Baidu Venture and Gaojie Capital co-led the round, with FreeS Fund participating. The capital will go toward market expansion, core technology, product R&D, and upgrading its commercial ecosystem.
Founded in 2016, MaiFei Technology combines international technical expertise with internet DNA, focusing on smart agriculture as an AI big data company specializing in crop protection services and precision pesticide application. Its core business leverages proprietary near-ground remote sensing technology and smart agriculture AI algorithms to deliver precision spraying services. (See: [PEDaily] MaiFei Technology Closes 25 Million RMB Pre-A Round Led by Baidu Venture)
3
Bluepha Completes Pre-A Round,
FreeS Fund Continues Support
Synthetic biology company Bluepha recently announced 10 million RMB in Pre-A funding, with angel investor FreeS Fund following on. The round will fund production line expansion and building an automated microbial synthetic biology platform.
Bluepha was born on Tsinghua University's campus in October 2016, founded by Dr. Li Teng, Dr. Zhang Haoqian, and Tsinghua professor Chen Guoqiang. In early 2017, it closed its angel round led by FreeS Fund, with TusStar and Taiyou Fund participating. The company has already achieved small-scale production of PHA, a biodegradable material. Going forward, Bluepha will expand into medical, environmental, and consumer applications. (See: [iYiou] Bluepha Closes Pre-A Round)
4
SaiFeng Technology Raises Tens of Millions,
Angel Investor FreeS Fund Follows On
Asset management trading service provider SaiFeng Technology recently announced tens of millions of RMB in investment from GSR United Capital, with FreeS Fund participating. The funding will support hiring, data infrastructure, and market expansion.
Founded in July 2016, SaiFeng Technology applies financial engineering, massive data processing capabilities, and AI to provide institutional investors with intelligent portfolio management, investment research, and professional trading solutions — helping asset managers improve performance and manage risk. (See: [NewSeed] SaiFeng Technology Raises Tens of Millions from GSR United Capital)
5
FreeS Fund Invests in Singleron,
Deepening Tech-Driven Healthcare Bets
Singleron Biotechnologies, focused on high-throughput single-cell sequencing, recently announced tens of millions of RMB in angel funding. Yuanhe Origin led the round, with FreeS Fund participating.
Founded in January 2018, Singleron focuses on high-throughput single-cell multi-omics analysis at the frontier of U.S. drug development, academic research, and genomics. Its core single-cell analysis platform comes from co-founder Professor Fan Rong of Yale University. This round will help Singleron secure exclusive global patent licensing from Yale to commercialize Professor Fan's original high-throughput single-cell microfluidic sequencing technology, developing clinical diagnostic and tumor immunology applications. (See: [iYiou] Singleron Closes Tens of Millions in Angel Round)
FreeS Perspectives
▍Li Feng: We Must Seize the Technology Upgrade Opportunity
China's population structure, industrial structure, and employment distribution make economic restructuring and industrial upgrading imperative. We have 780 million employed people, with roughly 520 million in industry and agriculture combined. To maintain competitiveness in manufacturing supply chains and avoid structural unemployment at the macro level, we must seize technology upgrade opportunities and reskill these 500+ million workers.
This is part of why we decided to invest in semiconductors. Chips have a high multiplier effect on upstream and downstream industries — between 4.3x and 5x. This means a 2 trillion RMB chip market can drive roughly 8-10 trillion RMB in output value, supporting employment for about 150 million people. Solving core technologies like chips helps us address employment challenges and prevents chip manufacturing from migrating to lower-cost labor markets.
Certain policies enacted in China two or three decades ago have had profound, hard-to-estimate long-term effects on today's labor supply, especially high-end talent. Though unrelated to U.S.-China tech competition at the time, these policies may have positive impacts over the next 5, 10, or even 15 years — in productivity supply, returnee entrepreneurship, and more. (See: [Peking University Entrepreneur Alumni Association] Li Feng: "Technology Upgrade: From Made in China to Intelligent China")
FreeS Family Updates
1
Deep Tech | Tmall Genie Set-Top Box Launches with SoundAI Technology
On the evening of May 27, Shenzhen TV's Super Launch Event livestreamed the Tmall Genie "Dazzling AI Life" product launch, unveiling the "Tmall Magic Box" smart set-top box. SoundAI provides the voice interaction technology behind Alibaba's Tmall Genie.
Founded in April 2016, SoundAI is an innovation company focused on acoustic frontier technology and AI-powered interaction, dedicated to enabling more natural human-machine interaction in real-world environments — "hearing what you say, knowing what you mean." It provides end-to-end voice interaction technology and services, plus complete voice-enabled solutions from chips and modules to finished products. (See: [GeekNet] Tmall Magic Box Launch: SoundAI Reveals the Voice Interaction Logic Behind the Set-Top Box)
2
Consumer | Shenma Closes 300 Million RMB Series C
Shenma, an internet company focused on rural transportation, recently announced 300 million RMB in Series C funding. Tongbanjie, China Growth Capital, and Hanergy Venture co-led the round, with Yixin New Financial Industry Investment Fund participating and China Equity Capital continuing to add to its position. This marks another funding round for Shenma in three years — FreeS Fund previously led its Series A worth millions of USD, and followed on in its Series B and B+ rounds.
Since its 2015 founding, Shenma has targeted rural mobility as its entry point, building vertically across the rural transportation supply chain through two- and three-wheeled electric vehicles and motorcycles, providing consumer finance and supply chain finance services to farmers and dealers. Founder and CEO Ning Rui revealed that alongside this Series C, Shenma will launch a new strategic push into four-wheel new energy vehicles, deeply penetrating the rural mobility market serving 800 million people. (See: [Phoenix Finance] Shenma Closes 300 Million RMB Series C Co-Led by Tongbanjie, China Growth Capital)
3
Consumer | Tingjiandan Completes Series B+
Internet smart parking platform Tingjiandan recently announced its Series B+ round led by Ant Group, with parking industry capital Sunshine Haotian following on. Going forward, Tingjiandan will deepen its collaboration with Ant Group on smart parking services and parking finance, jointly building a more comprehensive and vertically integrated smart parking ecosystem.
Founded in December 2014, Tingjiandan combines internet smart parking platform capabilities with offline parking asset management and operations, driving comprehensive upgrades to traditional parking. FreeS Fund participated in Tingjiandan's angel round back in 2015 and has followed on multiple times since. Over three years, we've watched Tingjiandan expand nationwide and earn continued market recognition. (See: [Phoenix Auto] Tingjiandan Closes Series B+ Led by Ant Group)
4
Consumer | Three Squirrels Partners with Retail Distribution Platform to Embrace New Retail
On May 29, Three Squirrels signed a strategic partnership with Alibaba's retail distribution platform, embracing new retail. Millions of small shops can now source Three Squirrels products through the platform, letting consumers buy what was previously available only online or at dedicated offline stores right in their neighborhood. "We aim to give consumers brand quality at unbranded prices, with identical products, quality, and pricing online and offline."
Through the retail distribution platform, Three Squirrels expects to data-enable its brand, digitizing its sales chain to know exactly how much each shop stocks, what sells where, and what feedback shops provide — channeling end-consumer data back upstream to intimately reach and serve customers. (See: [Three Squirrels Official WeChat] Retail Distribution Platform: The Squirrels Are Here!)
5
FreeS Family Award News
Three Squirrels Makes Most Popular Chinese Brands List
May 10 marked the second "China Brand Day." People's Daily new media, based on 500,000 netizen votes combined with JD.com big data and final expert committee review, selected the most popular Chinese brands. The list covered five dimensions: "Most Refined," "Most Potential," "Most Beautiful," "Most Popular," and "Most Sentimental," with 25 outstanding brands making the cut.
FreeS Fund portfolio company Three Squirrels, the snack food e-commerce brand, ranked on the "Most Potential" list. Experts noted that Three Squirrels successfully got consumers into the habit of eating nuts, making it "the next leader in domestic brands." (See: [Anhui Daily] Kudos! "Three Squirrels" Makes "Most Popular Chinese Brands" List, Hailed as "Next Leader in Domestic Brands")
DeepCare Wins 2018 Big Data Expo "New Product" Award for Leading Sci-Tech Achievement
On May 26, at the 2018 China International Big Data Industry Expo, DeepCare's "AI-Assisted Cervical Cell Screening System" won the "New Product" award for leading sci-tech achievements — with only an 8% selection rate.
Beijing DeepCare Information Technology, founded in 2016, applies AI to medical image recognition and early screening, providing quality products and technical services to medical institutions and device manufacturers.
The cervical cell intelligent assisted screening system is DeepCare's first smart medical product. Using convolutional neural networks and object detection in computer vision, it automatically analyzes digitized cervical cell smears, detects suspicious abnormal cells, and marks their specific locations and subtypes for doctors — processing entire smears in under 40 seconds. (See: [DeepCare Official WeChat] DeepCare Wins 2018 Big Data Expo "New Product" Award for Leading Sci-Tech Achievement)
▲ 9 Harvests and 4 Insights in Spring | FreeS Newsletter · March
