FreeS Fund's 2024 Year in Review: Going Further Together, Doing What's Right Rather Than What's Easy

As the year turns, we wanted to look back on our 2024 with you. Thank you to every friend who walked alongside FreeS Fund.

In 2024, FreeS Fund completed its ninth full year. We maintained a steady investment pace and quality, while venturing into new territories like AI chips, embodied intelligence robotics, and AI for Science. We also celebrated the Hong Kong Stock Exchange main board listing of XtalPi, an early portfolio company.

For many of us at FreeS Fund, 2024 was a year of transitions and change. As one colleague put it in their year-end reflection: "Choose the hard thing, stick with it, and you'll often find it was the right thing."

Lately, there's been no shortage of online discourse about "the garbage time of history." We'd like to share something from Feng Shu: "Against a backdrop of shifting international dynamics, great-power competition, and China's economic restructuring, people naturally feel a range of emotions. But we can't let that stop us from pursuing answers to two questions: 'How did the world get here?' and 'Where are we headed?'"

Happy New Year, and Happy Lunar New Year!

P.S. Scroll to the end for a surprise~

In 2024, us and our portfolio:

• Invested: 33 deals totaling nearly RMB 400 million — 20 in new projects, 13 in follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies.
• Exited: Partial or full exits from multiple projects; XtalPi listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange main board.
• Follow-on financing: 49 portfolio companies completed approximately 67 new funding rounds, raising over RMB 4.1 billion in total.
• Fundraising: Completed the second close of RMB Fund III.
• New high-valuation companies: 8 companies reached valuations exceeding RMB 1 billion, including 1 potential unicorn valued at nearly RMB 7 billion, and 1 unicorn valued at nearly RMB 8 billion.

Overall, in 2024 we maintained our investment volume, pace, and quality, completing 33 investments — 20 in new projects and 13 in follow-on rounds. We also explored more new directions, including AI chips, embodied intelligence robotics, and AI for Science.

Exit conditions in the equity investment market grew more challenging in 2024. That year, FreeS Fund achieved partial or full exits from multiple projects. Among them, early portfolio company XtalPi listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange main board.

The fundraising market was equally challenging. We also witnessed the resilience and perseverance of our portfolio companies amid market volatility. According to available statistics, 49 portfolio companies completed approximately 67 new funding rounds — 18 more than in 2023 — raising over RMB 4.1 billion in total.

Since February 2024, we've received 111 honors from dozens of institutions — 73 for the firm, and 38 individual recognitions for our colleagues.

Among the firm's awards: approximately 35 recognized our overall capabilities, with keywords including "most founder-friendly," "most influential," "best returns," "best early-stage," "top-tier VC," "investment pioneer," "fundraising pioneer," "exit pioneer," and "active investor."

In specific investment sectors, our bets in hard and soft tech earned 18 awards. We received 10 recognitions in AI alone, with additional acknowledgment in advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and new materials. In healthcare, our investments garnered 16 awards from industry and specialized medical media, concentrated in pharmaceuticals, digital health, and biotech. Our consumer and cross-border investment practice also continued to receive recognition.

Among individual awards for our team, not only Feng Shu but multiple partners and executive directors received recognition from various institutions.

▎Government Relations In 2024, we systematically mapped out enterprise support policies in Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta, developing deep familiarity with local industrial resources. We conducted on-site industrial visits with over 30 portfolio companies, helping them apply for policy support, select office space, and expand local industrial connections. More than ten portfolio companies completed local project setups, with another ten-plus still in progress.

▎Investor Relations In 2024, we helped over 50 portfolio companies connect with investors more than 300 times. The fundraising market remained challenging — investors were more cautious and demanding, meaning founders needed to devote more energy to financing. We regularly and systematically review our portfolio companies' funding needs, help them identify optimal timing, and assist in selecting suitable financial advisors. Beyond market-based investors, we also introduce government direct investment funds and industrial strategic investors.

▎Human Resources This year, we focused on executive recruitment for 30+ portfolio companies, recommending dozens of candidates. We observed that early-stage hiring demand hasn't weakened significantly compared to previous years; meanwhile, companies in AI and embodied intelligence show especially strong recruiting needs. We continue supporting companies through our "talent empowerment system," including HR diagnostics and planning, candidate sourcing and recruitment, talent development framework building, and compensation and incentive system design. We also actively engage with universities at home and abroad through online and offline events, helping portfolio companies access quality talent.

▎Business Development

• Navigating the new globalization

In 2024, founders from FreeS Fund's portfolio traveled to developed markets like the US and Germany, emerging Southeast Asian economies, and further afield to Turkey straddling Europe and Asia, as well as Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan. We co-hosted with MaShang Entrepreneurship Camp a closed-door session titled "Not Going Overseas, But New Globalization," with nearly 20 founders sharing their globalization practices. The session sparked collaborations among portfolio companies. (Read "Not Going Overseas, But New Globalization": Thoughts and Practices from Nearly 20 Companies)

• Upstream-downstream collaboration

Drawing on FreeS Fund's investment footprint and ecosystem, we actively identify and facilitate potential partnerships among portfolio companies. For example, we connected AI pharmaceutical companies for collaboration, helped chip companies bid jointly, paired commercial aerospace firms with new industrial software companies, and supported consumer brands banding together for overseas expansion.

▎Public Relations From February 2024 to January 2025, we published 18 industry research pieces on the FreeS Fund WeChat account. We believe more sharing and exchange deepens collective understanding of entrepreneurship and investing. Moreover, amid turbulent international developments, we've actively pursued "going out" and "bringing in," maintaining frequent exchanges and collaborations with overseas Chinese entrepreneur organizations and alumni associations of top universities, hoping to stand alongside Chinese entrepreneurs with return-to-China ambitions as early as possible.

In 2024, we continued our podcast collaboration with business writer Li Xiang on "High Energy." To date, the show has accumulated nearly 5.9 million plays across Xiaoyuzhou, Ximalaya, Apple Podcasts, and NetEase Cloud Music. Our episodes cover both macro themes and sector-specific topics. This year, we co-produced 11 industry observation episodes with portfolio companies, helping amplify their reach. In 2024, "High Energy" received three honors: Xiaoyuzhou Podcast Awards 2024 "Trending Podcast of the Year," Douban 2024 "Business & Tech Podcast of the Year," and NetEase Cloud 2024 Podcast & Audiobook List "Wealth Wisdom Podcast."

In January 2025, we took our team retreat to Vietnam, getting an early taste of summer. We wandered the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, watching the weave of motorbikes and feeling history and everyday life intersect; in Mui Ne, we witnessed where mountains, sea, and desert meet, hiking through wild terrain to deeply connect with nature; in Nha Trang, we waded through streams, grabbed vines to plunge into waterfalls, and zipped through rainforests on cable lines; at sea, we rode the waves, feeling the contest between wind and water, then leaped in to feel the ocean's embrace and softness. We raised our glasses together, sang together, and committed to walking further together.

For many of us at FreeS Fund, 2024 was a year of transitions and change. In personal year-end reflections, colleagues shared both work insights and unforgettable, precious experiences and realizations from the year.

In 2025, may the starlight of New Year's Eve illuminate your path forward. Together, let's do what's right, not what's easy.

Engagement Giveaway

We welcome your comments at the end of this article — share your thoughts and hopes for the new year, or anything you'd like to say to us. By 5:00 PM on January 31, the 5 most heartfelt commenters will receive a FreeS Fund New Year gift (including 2 books).

▲Li Feng x Guan Qingyou: In 2025, What New Opportunities Remain in Consumer Markets?

▲From "How Did the World Get Here" to "Where Are We Headed" | FreeS Fund 2024 Annual Investor Summit Recap

▲Nine Years and Growing Stronger — Join FreeS Fund, Let's Walk Further Together

▲"Not Going Overseas, But New Globalization": Thoughts and Practices from Nearly 20 Companies

▲FreeS Fund 2023 Year in Review: Keep the Long View in Mind

▲FreeS Fund 2022 Year in Review: Stay True to Your Logic, Do What's Right Not What's Easy

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