Coatue

Coatue is a prominent US-based hedge fund and technology investor founded by Philippe Laffont, which entered China in 2014 and has since become known for its annual "East Meets West" investor deck and thematic bets on consumer brands and AI . In Chinese new-style tea alone, it has accumulated positions in Heytea, Guming, and Ba Wang Cha Ji (Chagee) , while also backing Manner Coffee, SHEIN , and the real-time entertainment UGC platform Yahaha . Its China activity has run parallel to sharp macro commentary—Coatue warned in 2022 that the tech bear market had further to fall, then pivoted by mid-2024 to argue markets had grown desensitized to macro uncertainty and that AI was driving a genuine bull run rather than a bubble, even as it noted US VC exits remained depressed and many unicorns might never be repriced . The firm has also made large-scale bets on AI infrastructure, with its data showing roughly 62% of AI funding flowing to model-layer companies and average AI startup valuations reaching $1 billion by 2024 .