Gang Mai

Gang Mai is an angel investor known for being among the earliest backers of Pop Mart, the designer-toy company that listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in December 2020 . According to 暗涌Waves, his investment came at a time when "almost all mainstream dollar funds missed" the company—Wang Ning and his team waited at least three months for a response before Mai finally saw their email and decided to invest . The deal later became part of venture-capital lore: after it closed, Wang and Mai went to a bar in Beijing's Wudaokou neighborhood, where a tipsy Wang reportedly tore up the term sheet . Mai was described by 暗涌Waves in 2022 as one of the most memorable early investors in Pop Mart, and his story circulated widely in a piece titled "The Years I Was 'Abandoned' by the VC Circle" . The same source notes that while China's RMB fund landscape has seen many colorful personalities, "overly distinctive character and expression doesn't necessarily help a firm survive longer" .