ZhenFund

ZhenFund angel project "YuanCe Future" (源策未来) has raised hundreds of millions of RMB in its Series A funding round, aiming to build the OpenAI of the humanoid robot era.

A University of Hong Kong professor has founded a startup to build a general-purpose, full-body embodied intelligence brain.

ZhenFund Angel Project "Hyde Hydrogen Energy" Completes Series B+ Round, Fluctuation Hydrogen Production Breaks Through Green Hydrogen Cost Parity Singularity

Long-duration, stable, and continuous low-carbon energy supply.

ZhenFund angel project "Zhizi Xinyuan" closes new round of funding worth tens of millions of RMB, doubling down on AI for Computing

Advancing computing systems from "functional" to "efficient and optimizable" — a new phase.

A Conversation with Kunpeng: After Ten Years, His Dream of Live-Action Interactive Film Games Is Finally Being Seen

The real value of AI is in building dreams for smaller circles.

A Conversation with Kunpeng: Interactive Movie Games With Real Actors Suddenly Took Off — The Dream He'd Chased for Ten Years Finally Got Noticed

A24 Partner, Vercel CEO, a16z All Pre-Ordered This AI Bookmark

Create something truly compelling.

ZhenFund-backed "Mindverse" Closes $50 Million Series A to Build Continuously Learning Agent Models

Let intelligence truly understand every unique soul.

"Xinzhou Technology" Closes $50 Million Series A Led by Meituan | Linear Portfolio

An agent's capabilities ultimately come down to the underlying model training.

Summer Glimpses | Z News

Let's take a look back at the highlights from May, and invite you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

ZhenFund Early-Stage Portfolio Company Moffett AI Closes Nearly One Billion Yuan Series C Round

Become the indispensable green computing foundation within the AI infrastructure layer.

The Unforgettable Series C Funding of Moonshot AI

A stroke of genius.

ZhenFund Celebrates Another Angel-Stage IPO in Three Weeks as "UISEE" — the First Full-Scenario L4 Autonomous Driving Stock — Lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Accelerate the large-scale adoption and application of AI drivers.

Guizang: From Prompt to Harness, Context Is Everything

A UI Designer and His 300,000 Lines of Code

Spring's End Not Yet Come | Z News

We're looking back at the "highlight reel" from this past April, and we invite you to join us in witnessing the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

ZhenFund Backs Global AI Silicon Photonics Chip Leader in Seed Round, *Lightelligence* Rings the Bell at Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Using light-based technology to infuse new power into the AI era.

ZhenFund angel project *Black Lake Technology* closes nearly RMB 1 billion Series D round, as industrial AI reaches commercial inflection point

Continue pushing AI agents into the core operations of factories.

I gave him a dream: surpass Claude Code.

Humanity will stand witness, guarding this new world as it comes into being.

OpenClaw, you have a new order!

Your first Agent, on us.

Spring Sets the Stage | Z News

Let's look back at the highlights from the past three months — and we invite you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

ZhenFund Angel Portfolio Company "Xellaris" Closes Over RMB 200 Million Series A Round, Defining a New Paradigm for AI Drug Discovery with 3D Biological Intelligence

To bring more breakthrough therapies to patients worldwide.

Emperor Jin: I Want to Make a Spiritual Successor to *The Invisible Guardian*

The most important meaning of choice is to experience life.

Stay Curious | ZhenFund's 23rd Cohort Internship Program Officially Launches

Join this conversation, and see the future one step ahead.

Genspark's Jing Kun: What Does Unlimited Token Actually Mean?

Once again, we find ourselves at a crossroads in history.

CrossWe's Jia Kui: The Next Decade Is Physical World AGI

Let AI penetrate every corner of the physical world.

KernelCAT Lin Zhihang: Building AI That Truly Controls Your Computer

Let AI charge ahead without being constrained by human interaction frameworks.

Your First Agent, On Us | ZhenFund Token Grant

What do the next generation of entrepreneurs need most as they set out in the AI era?

Maybe We Should Stop Investing in GUI-Centric Software Companies

Agents are a user base ten times larger than humans.

ZhenFund early-stage project Flexiv completes new funding round, continues building general-purpose intelligent robotics platform

The funding will be primarily used for the continued development of the general-purpose intelligent foundation platform and core technology R&D, further strengthening the company's technological and commercial footing in the general-purpose intelligent robotics space.

It's Spring Right Now | Z News

We're looking back at the "highlight moments" from the past two months, and we invite you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

Eight Emotions Between Humans and OpenClaw

This is my second growth journal — stay tuned for more!

Taking a Leave from Columbia to Build a Startup: Don't Ask ChatGPT, Ask Hyperknow 3.0

We want to serve everyone who stays curious about knowledge.

Dropped Out of Columbia to Build the First General-Purpose Learning Agent

Sp.02 | A Conversation with Master Dong: The Untold Stories Behind 20 Years of Chinese Venture Capital

OpenClaw Confession: Nine Stories, the Growth of a Digital Life

This is my first growth diary — stay tuned for more!

How MIT Engineers Built the Tool That 80% of YC Founders Use

Even if the market is tiny, as long as you're No. 1, you can establish mindshare and set the standard.

A New Beginning | Z News

We’re looking back on the highlights from the past month of January, and we invite you to join us in witnessing the growth of our portfolio companies and what’s new at ZhenFund.

ZhenFund angel project **Helium Starlink** (*氦星光联*) closes nearly RMB 200 million Series A1 round to accelerate buildout of space-ground integrated optical communications network

Weave a high-speed communications network that blankets heaven and earth, and opens a gateway to the future.

vLLM Team Launches Inferact and Closes $150 Million Seed Round, with ZhenFund Leading First Round

Building a world-class AI inference engine to accelerate the progress of the AI industry.

ZhenFund's Yusen Dai's Lunar New Year Reading List: You Have to Keep Running Just to Stay in Place

Accompanied by words, seeing a wider world.

Dancing with Love, Zhang Huaiting: Staying a Calm "Value Builder" Amid the AI Hype

Make decisions toward your goals, not away from your difficulties.

OMOWAY Founder He Tao: The Second Half of Life, Riding the Wave of Next-Generation Intelligent Mobility

There's nothing more thrilling than starting a company.

Gen Z Is Building the World

There's always someone young.

ZhenFund angel project "Future Not Far" closes 200 million yuan angel round, pioneering consumer-grade deployment of general-purpose home robots

The funds will be primarily used for product iteration of general-purpose home robots and enhancements to core algorithms and system capabilities.

The Stars Are Still Young | Z News

ZhenFund wishes you a Happy New Year.

Manus Team Joins Meta: A Decade-Long Journey for a Group of Young People

A deep understanding of users and exceptional product engineering ability are what truly scarce in this era.

Sp.01 | Debriefing China's Primary Market in 2025 (Ft. Crossroads)

ZhenFund's early-stage portfolio company Moxi, which received two consecutive rounds of investment, lists on the STAR Market

One of China's leading domestic high-performance general-purpose GPU companies.

A Conversation with ZhenFund Partner Yuan Liu: One Week with Manus, Ten Years with Red Xiao

ZhenFund Partner Yuan Liu: One Week with Manus, Ten Years with Red

A mental landscape few investors would ever admit to out loud.

New Year 2026 Conversation with Koji: The Year of R

Dancing with Love: Zhang Huaiting on Serial Entrepreneurship — Why Education Deserves Another AI Makeover | Tsinghua Campus Tour

At a technological inflection point, you have to throw yourself in to seize the era's opportunities.

ZhenFund angel project "Livinova" completes tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A funding; self-developed all-atom model Pallatom makes NVIDIA's recommended list

The new funding will accelerate iterative upgrades to Pallatom, its full-atom model protein design platform, expand its commercial pipeline, and support global talent recruitment.

Vol.001 | A Conversation with Yuan Liu: One Week with Manus, Ten Years with Xiao Hong

Zhang Tao Responds to Controversy for the First Time: Why Manus Hasn't Been Replaced | Tsinghua University Campus Tour

The magic only happens when you give intelligence back to the model.

Moonshot AI's Yutong Zhang: The "1%" Exception Under the Capital-and-Compute Determinism | Tsinghua University Campus Talk

Seeking the optimal solution for converting energy into intelligence.

ZhenFund angel project "Pollo AI" announces $14 million seed round to continue building all-in-one AI video creation platform

The proceeds from this round will be used to accelerate the scaled rollout of its one-stop creation platform.

A Conversation with Pollo AI's Chenbiao Zhu: A "Grassroots" Founder Without Big Tech or Overseas Pedigree

"The game has entered the second half," said Abiao. He wants Pollo AI to become the CapCut of the AI era.

A Whole New World | Z News

We invite you to look back on the past month's "highlight reel" — a look at how our portfolio companies have grown and what's new at ZhenFund.

Tsinghua PhD Crosses the Desert, Searching for the iPhone Moment of Green Hydrogen

How a Gen Z College Student in Chengdu Sold 100,000 Copies of a ¥9 Solo Travel Guide

For a premium game to succeed, keeping costs under control is the single most important factor.

Tsinghua Ph.D. Crosses the Desert, Searching for Green Hydrogen's iPhone Moment

Over the next five years, powering the AI era with affordable hydrogen.

Looking at China's Three Competitive Advantages in Gaming Through *Genshin Impact*, *Black Myth: Wukong*, and *Archero*

Build a global company from Day 1.

ZhenFund angel project Genspark announces $275 million Series B to build next-generation AI agent platform | Z News

Genspark is building a new generation of AI productivity tools for users worldwide.

Duolingo Talks to Early-Stage Founders: How to Build a Fun Product in the AI Era?

Because it's weird, because it's fun, because it's one of a kind.

With nothing but sleeves and kite string, he built a dexterous hand with full degrees of freedom in 90 days

Strength is the price of excellence.

Moonshot AI Releases and Open-Sources Kimi K2 Thinking Model, Boosting Agent and Reasoning Capabilities | Z News

Moonshot AI's most capable open-source reasoning model to date.

The First Streamer to Beat *Black Myth: Wukong* With Motion Controls — Defeating Bosses With a Wave of a USB Device

The next century-defining hardware company will emerge from China.

The First Streamer in China to Beat *Black Myth: Wukong* with Motion Controls, Defeating a Boss with a Wave of a USB Device

Tsinghua '97 Alumnus Qin Yudi: From Abandoned Garage to AI Energy Management, He's Always Been Flying Close to the Ground

Hardcore tech entrepreneurship can't stand on business-model innovation alone.

Tsinghua '97 Alumnus Qin Yudi: From an Abandoned Garage to AI Energy Management, He's Always Been Flying Close to the Ground

Yunqi Capital Leads Investment in Jekka: Pushing the Next Frontier of AI | Yunqi Doers

"White-Box Thinking" Reconstructs the Trust Boundary of Enterprise AI

Light Always Finds Its Next Landing Point｜Z News

We look back on the "highlight moments" of the past October and invite you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

Wang Qiang's 2025 Future Science Prize Address: Science Should Be Remembered as Poetry

Look to the future, observe the present, reward the past.

A Conversation with Jekka Founder on Human-Level AI Agent Customer Service: AI's Boundaries, Large-Scale Implementation, and the Endgame

From Sierra to Jekka: The Boundaries of AI, Large-Scale Practice, and the Endgame

In the future, experimentation itself and time will be the anchors of social value distribution.

ZhenFund early-stage portfolio company CloudView Innovation announces completion of Pre-A funding round, embracing new AI-powered rehabilitation approaches

The proceeds will go toward deepening product iteration and expanding global distribution channels, continuing to build the brand's core moat in the intelligent health space.

ZhenFund Early-Stage Project MetaX Clears STAR Market IPO Review

Proceeds from this fund raise will primarily go toward R&D and commercialization of new high-performance general-purpose GPUs, next-generation AI inference GPUs, and related projects.

Not Chasing Trends, But Backing the People Who Create Them: From Jumei to ZhenFund, Yusen Dai Has Navigated Cycles and Stepped Into the AI Era

Beyond the Set Trajectory | Z News

We look back at the "highlight moments" of the past month and invite you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

ZhenFund angel project LeXiang Technology announced the completion of a 200 million yuan angel++ round, continuing to focus on consumer-grade embodied intelligence product R&D

This funding round aims to accelerate the scaled deployment of consumer-grade embodied-intelligence products.

Wuji Robotics' Pan Yunzhe: Dexterous Hands, Underrated Touch, and First Principles

Hardware has to go through round after round of trial production, constantly surfacing issues and steadily narrowing them down, before it can truly mature.

What's the Endgame for Embodied AI? Dexterous Hands, Underrated Tactile Sensing, and First Principles

ZhenFund angel project "Teable" announces completion of several-million-dollar angel round, launches world's first multidimensional spreadsheet agent | Z News

The new funding will be used to accelerate global expansion and continue investing in the underlying engine and product R&D.

ZhenFund angel project "Hyde Hydrogen" announces completion of new strategic funding round to accelerate global green hydrogen development with advanced technology | Z News

The proceeds from this round will be used primarily for global market expansion and new product development.

August, Before Summer Ends | Z News

To beat the summer heat, we invite you to join us in celebrating the growth of our portfolio companies and sharing what's new at ZhenFund.

ZhenFund Portfolio Companies 2025 Fall Joint Campus Recruitment Officially Launches

Young talent, take note! ZhenFund's 20+ portfolio companies are bringing 100+ open positions for you.

Yuwuwei CEO Huaiting Zhang: Using Generative AI to Achieve "Teaching Students in Accordance with Their Aptitude, and Education Without Discrimination"

When building AI applications, we follow a 16-character principle: business-led, intelligence-driven, human-machine collaboration, pragmatic innovation.

Conversation with Kaijie Chen: The Gen-Z Founder Who Pivoted Three Times to Build the World's First Personal Agent

A '97-born founder's third pivot: building a Personal Agent that doesn't chase productivity

Like the earliest Apple Mac computers, we hope to realize the transformation of agents from productivity to everyday life.

Ten Thousand-Word Interview with Duolingo Co-Founder: From 12 Years for 100 Courses to 148 Courses in One Year — How AI Drives Super App Growth

When a major technological shift hits, you have to be willing to challenge every company's underlying assumptions.

A Group of Gen Z Kids Used Flyers, All-Nighters, and Scholarships to Get This Bird Game to ChinaJoy

Writing code to build a world is a kind of magic, something that defies all reason.

Venture Where No One Has Gone Before | Z News

July is drawing to a close, and we invite you to join us in witnessing the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund.

A group of Gen Zers used flyers, all-nighters, and scholarship money to get this bird game off the ground at ChinaJoy

Are Models and "Shells" Both Undervalued? ZhenFund's Yusen Dai's Mid-2025 AI Review --- The past six months have been a turbulent period for AI. On one hand, DeepSeek's breakthrough has reignited global enthusiasm for Chinese AI; on the other, the commercialization path for large models remains unclear, and the market is growing increasingly anxious about when AI will generate real returns. Against this backdrop, I believe it's necessary to take stock of where we stand at this mid-point in 2025. **The Core Question: Are Models and "Shells" Both Undervalued?** Over the past two years, the AI industry has cycled through several narratives: from the initial frenzy over foundation models, to the subsequent boom in AI applications ("shells"), then a period of disillusionment as applications failed to deliver, and now a renewed focus on models following DeepSeek's success. But I want to propose a contrarian view: **both models and "shells" may be simultaneously undervalued by the market right now.** This might sound paradoxical. Let me explain. **Why Models Are Undervalued** The market's current skepticism toward model companies stems largely from two concerns: the commoditization of models (will they all become undifferent

In 2025, the "Sedol moment" for industries far and wide is only just beginning.

CellX Founder Ziliang Yang: Starting from Mycelium, Let 10% of People Eat the Future First

As humanity keeps moving forward, more and more people will seek out new alternatives.

Dropping Out of Wharton to Start a Company Back Home: Starting with Mycelium to Get 10% of People Eating the Future

Born in the '90s, Built an AI Unicorn in Three Years: The Stubborn Teenager Behind the Windsurf Acquisition

A 50% win rate is more thrilling than a 100% success rate, because it means you're standing on the true frontier of technology.

2025 AI Mid-Year Review with Yusen Dai: OpenAI's IMO Gold, Moonshot AI K2's Comeback, Agent Adoption, and the Talent War

Manus Founder Walks Through: How to Systematically Build Context Engineering for AI Agents?

If model progress is a rising tide, we want Manus to be the boat, not a pillar nailed to the seabed.

Yusen Dai of ZhenFund: From "No Need to Pay" to "Can't Live Without It," AI Is on Track to Shatter Humanity's Fastest Growth Records

The development of AI is a bit like boiling water — once it hits the boiling point, the arrival of the steam engine will spark a new industrial revolution.

A Conversation with XPeng Co-founder He Tao: On a 7,000-Meter Snow Mountain, I Decided It Was Time for Halftime to End

Starting a business is addictive.

A Conversation with He Tao, Former XPeng Co-Founder: On My Second Act, Redefining Smart Electric Motorcycles in Southeast Asia

Beyond the Cliff, Grass Yet Untrodden | Z News

We stand ready to receive, in the depths of our being, those miracles that arrive unforeseen.

Zero Zero Technology's Wang Mengqiu: An Atypical 11-Year Survival Story of a Flying Camera Company | Z Talk

Choosing the right direction matters more than zero-to-one innovation.

ZhenFund early-stage portfolio company Flexiv completes Series C funding round of over $100 million, marking acceleration in general-purpose robotics commercialization | Z News

Proceeds from this round will primarily go toward capacity expansion, R&D, and ecosystem development.

A Year Later, When Kimi and MiniMax Investors Sat Down Together Again

The wildest possibility may be that humans won't be the only intelligent species on this planet.

ZhenFund angel project "OMOWAY" announces completion of tens of millions of dollars in funding, launches first electric motorcycle with intelligent driving features | Z News

XPeng co-founder He Tao launches OMOWAY, driving motorcycles into the 3.0 era.

A Conversation with Li Yafei of ClackyAI: Vibe Coding Is the Starting Point; the Endgame Is a Fully Automated Software Delivery Factory

ClackyAI's Li Yafei on Vibe Coding: Laziness Is the Force That Drives Human Progress

One person can build a product, serve a crowd, and still live well.

Three PhDs from HKU born in the 1990s want to give every mobile robot a hippocampus | Z Talk

How do you cross the "valley of death" from lab to industry and build the "Odin's Eye" for robotics?

Three post-90s PhDs from HKU want to give every mobile robot a hippocampus in the future

A Conversation with Huang Xiang CEO Yi Wang: Five Years, Three National No. 1s, Champion Breakfasts Designed for Kids — How Huang Xiang Is Reshaping Morning Meal Habits

A Conversation with Wang Yi, CEO of Butter Elephant: Three National No. 1s in Five Years, Champion Breakfasts Crafted for Kids — How Butter Elephant Is Reshaping Breakfast Habits

For every 10 frozen scallion pancakes sold online, four are from Little Yellow Elephant.

Greener Pastures, First Flickers of Ambition | Z News

The light and shadow grow richer; a story is brewing.

Conversation with YouWare's Ming Chaoping: They're Skeptical That AI Coding Is a New Form of Creation — and I'm Thrilled | Z Talk

The promising AI product founder chose a path few others dared to take.

ZhenFund angel project "Lexiang Technology" announces completion of angel+ round, bringing total angel-round financing to nearly RMB 300 million | Z News

The proceeds from this round will go primarily toward team building and the mass production and development of the product platform.

ZhenFund angel project "Weiming Shiguang" announces completion of strategic funding round of nearly 100 million RMB | Z News

The proceeds from this round will be used to accelerate the advancement of its diversification and globalization strategy.

Ten Years in the Making, Over 300,000 Copies Sold: How the Soulslike *AI LIMIT* Became a Dark Horse of Chinese Game Development | Z Talk

Top earner among domestic single-player games.

Where Are the Bold State Investors?

Breaking Down the Most Active Local State-Owned Capital.

ZhenFund Tops the "2024 Best Early-Stage VC Firms in China" List | Z News

ZhenFund and its portfolio companies received a total of 10 recognitions.

Early Spring Warms, All Things Compete to Bloom｜Z News

Spring winds stir fresh green growth; the journey never pauses.

ZhenFund angel project "Yaosu Technology" announces completion of new tens of millions of yuan funding round | Z News

The proceeds from this round will be used to accelerate the construction of its organ chip, wet lab, and AI algorithm "3D-Wet-AI" closed-loop system, and to further expand international partnerships and multi-scenario commercial deployment.

A Conversation with the Founders of Yuangu & Tangsuo: The Pursuit of Beauty Is a Lifelong Pursuit

The narrative of a Chinese aesthetic brand.

A Conversation with the Founders of YuanGu and TangSuo: The Pursuit of Beauty Is a Lifelong Quest

AIGC's Triple Dialogue on Creativity, Product, and Investment: Will the Future Pixar Be Born Inside an AI Company?

How far are we from the AGI moment?

A Three-Way Dialogue on AIGC Creativity, Product, and Investment: Will the Future Pixar Be Born Inside an AI Company?

Organizational Evolution and Breakthrough for Startups | Z Events

Business and organization are the two pedals of a company's bicycle.

CreativeFitting Founder Jiang Zhu: Evolving an AIGC Super Content Platform With the "Trilobite Tactic"

Chinese and American "dominant CEOs" have their differences too.

CreativeFitting Founder Zhu Jiang: Building a Super Content Platform for the AI Era — Fundraising and Self-Sustaining Revenue Must Go Hand in Hand

ZhenFund's Yusen Dai: A Deep Dive on AI Agents — Every Industry Will Face Its "Lee Sedol Moment" (Part 2)

We're still on day one of the AI intelligence revolution.

ZhenFund's Yusen Dai: A Long Conversation on AI Agents — Every Industry Will Face Its "Sedol Moment" (Part 1)

In the Agent era, "attention is not all you need."

Wanwu Capital Looks Ahead, Keeps Moving | Z News

Spring brings new beginnings; the future holds infinite promise.

ZhenFund's Yusen Dai: A Guide to Entrepreneurship, Investing, and AI for Young People

Abundant energy, an intense desire for success, and a fearless spirit of innovation.

The Clear Path, Hidden Path, and Rocky Path of AI Fundraising

Where does the money come from?

A Conversation with Zhaogang Group's Wang Dong: One Team, One Email, Thirteen Years of Building Zhaogang --- When Wang Dong, founder of Zhaogang Group, sent that email thirteen years ago, he didn't know he was assembling what would become one of China's most resilient B2B platform teams. The email went out to a small group of former colleagues and industry contacts. The subject line was simple, almost too simple for what it would set in motion. They were going to digitize steel trading — an industry notorious for opacity, fragmentation, and old-school relationship-based dealmaking. "We were basically a group of people who understood steel but didn't understand the internet," Wang Dong recalls. "And somehow that turned out to be an advantage." The early years were brutal. Steel is a commodity business with thin margins and entrenched middlemen. The platform model required convincing buyers and sellers — many of whom had operated through personal networks for decades — to transact online. Trust had to be built transaction by transaction. What separated Zhaogang from the wave of B2B platforms that emerged in the mid-2010s was operational discipline. While competitors burned capital on rapid geographic expansion, Wang Dong's

A Team, an Email, and Thirteen Years of Zhaogang's Startup Journey

Crank the sensitivity up. For entrepreneurship, crank it even higher.

ZhenFund Angel Project "Zhaogang Group" Successfully Lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board | Z News

Warm congratulations to Zhaogang Group!

A Long Conversation with Yusen Dai on Agents: Every Industry Will Face Its "Sedol Moment" — Is Attention Not All You Need?

A Conversation with Cao Xudong: Eight Years of Entrepreneurship, Why the "One Flywheel, Two Legs" Strategy | Z Talk

When making decisions, always let customer value be your guide.

A New Year Begins, All Things Renew | Z News

A new year brings new beginnings, and Wanwu Capital is full of fresh energy.

Post-95s Founders Lead the GenAI Application Revolution: A Look at 2024's New American Unicorns

In the US, more than half of the new AI unicorns are application companies.

A Deep Dive into the Beauty of DeepSeek's Creation: How Was DeepSeek R1 Forged?

AI penetration today is only 5%. For the remaining 95%, what will their first AI application be?

ZhenFund Early-Stage Portfolio Company LinkZill Closes Tens of Millions of RMB in Series A Funding | Z News

The proceeds from this round will be used to accelerate product delivery and expand into global markets.

ZhenFund angel project "Colossal-AI" (Luchao Technology) closes new funding round | Z News

Focused on world-class large video-generation models.

From Selling Robot Vacuums to Billions, a Post-'95 Entrepreneur Enters the AI Hardware Race | Z Talk

"Being number one" is the most efficient management tool.

ZhenFund angel project "Lexiang Technology" announces completion of nearly RMB 200 million angel round | Z News

Valued at roughly 600 million RMB, the company is making a push into the consumer hardware arena.

Lxson Raises Nearly RMB 200 Million in Angel Round, Co-Invested by Monolith

Embrace the best technology and the best partners

A New Year Dawns, Auspicious Energy Fills the Door｜Z News

Welcoming the Year of the Snake, embarking on a new journey.

ZhenFund's Lunar New Year Reading List: A Good Story

Walking alongside words, seeing a wider world.

When Post-'90s Founders Cluster Into the Unicorn Club: A Look at China's New Unicorns in 2024

Forty-four companies made the list, with hard tech taking center stage.

Floodgate founding partner Mike Maples' year-opening podcast: How to invest in the next 100x startup

Every great startup exists to build a future that is destined to arrive.

Angry Miao Li Nan's Unfiltered Take on "AI Glasses": Stop Kidding Yourself About Tech, Cash In on the Hype While It Lasts | Z Talk

The payoff on this smart glasses wave could come far faster than anything we've seen before.

Old Wang and His Big Fish

A Decade of Evolution for Flying Cameras

2025 New Year Conversation with Koji: AI's Pivotal Year, the Dawn of the Agent Era | Seriously Speaking EP35

Stay optimistic about AI.

A New Year Conversation with Koji: 2025 — The Critical Year for AI, the Dawn of the Agent Era

The Evolution of Coding Agents: A Three-Hour Deep Dive with Chinese and American Agent Founders, Alibaba Researchers, and Investors | Seriously Speaking EP34

The future is arriving faster than ever.

2024, When Everyone Stands at a Crossroads: 96 Investors' Decisions

Deciding is easy. Waiting is hard.

The year draws to a close; a new chapter begins | Z News

A warm winter for good things.

ZhenFund early-stage project "SatSense" (*Xingce Weilai*) announces completion of tens of millions of RMB in Pre-A++ round | Z News

Contributing to space-based computing infrastructure and supporting China's strength in aerospace.

The Evolution of Coding Agents: In-Depth Conversations with Chinese and American Agent Founders, Alibaba Researchers, and Investors

ZhenFund Angel Project "Hyde Hydrogen Energy" Announces New Strategic Investment from Aramco Ventures | Z News

Amaravati Ventures' first investment in the Asia-Pacific hydrogen energy sector.

A Conversation with Google DeepMind and LLM Researchers: Deconstructing OpenAI o1 and the LLM+RL New Paradigm

Its predecessor sold nearly a million copies, and now the Game of the Year-winning producer has made a bizarre three-person dating game? | Z Talk

In the AI era, game development operates on "causal inversion."

ZhenFund angel project **Zhongke Ruiyi** announces completion of tens of millions of RMB in Series A+ funding | Z News

The proceeds from this round will be used primarily for product R&D, clinical trials, product registration, and market expansion.

Moonshot AI Releases Visual Reasoning Model k1, Outperforming OpenAI o1 in STEM Benchmarks | Z News

Every pixel deserves deep thought.

China's USD Funds Won't Disappear

Live long enough to long China.

30,000-Word Transcript: A Google DeepMind Researcher on Deconstructing OpenAI o1 and the LLM+RL Paradigm | Z Talk

The most hardcore, no-fluff technical breakdown of o1.

First Snow, Clear Skies After Frost — Good News as Autumn Departs | Z News

The early winter breeze is crisp and clear.

OpenAI's Flagship AI PDF Tool: This Wrapper Product Hit 500K Users in a Year With a Team of 5 | Z Talk

Why Won't Wrapper Products Get Crushed by ChatGPT?

ZhenFund early-stage portfolio company "Qbit" announces completion of $10 million B1 round | Z News

Use financial innovation to drive global growth for companies expanding overseas.

Exclusive | The Full Untold Story Beneath the Surface of "Kimi Yang Zhilin Arbitration Case"

Who saw the sixpence, and who saw the moon.

OpenAI and Anthropic CPOs on Conversation: The Core Skill for Product Managers in the AI Era Is Writing Evals | Z Talk

A 60% accuracy rate is the "Mendoza Line" for AI products.

Vozo AI's Changyin Zhou: Early Google X Engineer, Video Product Goes Viral on Product Hunt, 6 Million Global Users | Z Talk

The market for video creation is a $100 billion opportunity that's severely underestimated.

Betting on AI Startups Four Years After a VAM Gamble: The Full Story of a Data Startup's Acquisition

I was going to ring the bell; how could I have sold the company after just four years?

Exclusive | Kimi Founder Yang Zhilin Faces Arbitration Filed by Former Investors

Another scandal at a high-profile AI company.

127 startups founded by Tsinghua alumni, all backed by this one fund

On average, one out of every six companies ZhenFund has invested in comes from Tsinghua University.

Golden Skies, Orange Leaves, Good News with Autumn | Z News

The autumn air is crisp and clear.

A Flying Action Camera That Raised Over $4.4 Million on Overseas Crowdfunding | Z Talk

Within two hours of going live, the crowdfunding campaign hit one million dollars.

Yichao Ji, Peak: A Small Step Toward Replicating OpenAI o1 — Steiner Open-Source Model Progress Report | Z Talk

Since OpenAI released o1, I've been working on reproducing it as a side project in my spare time.

Horizon Robotics Goes Public: We Can Finally Talk About Kai Yu's Story | Z Talk

How can a risk-averse entrepreneur pull off something incredibly risky?

Who Is Horizon Robotics' Most Important Investor?

Got it?

ZhenFund Angel Project Horizon Robotics Successfully Lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board | Z News

This marks ZhenFund's sixth IPO this year. Congratulations to Horizon Robotics!

Elon Musk's Third In-Depth Interview with Lex Fridman: "Chopsticks Catching Rockets" Is the Key Technology for Building a Martian Civilization

Building a fully reusable rocket is the "holy grail" of orbital spaceflight.

Acquired by a multinational after just five years in your first startup? Ren Dongni, founder of Fanqu, breaks down the game of entrepreneurship and exits --- When Ren Dongni co-founded Fanqu in 2016, the cross-border e-commerce space was already crowded with well-funded players. Five years later, the company had been acquired by a multinational corporation — a relatively swift exit by startup standards. In this conversation, Ren reflects on what it took to build and sell a company, the calculus behind taking strategic investment from a potential acquirer, and why he believes first-time founders often overcomplicate the "game" of entrepreneurship. **On the acquisition decision** "The offer came at a point where we saw the competitive landscape shifting dramatically. Cross-border e-commerce was consolidating, and the platforms with the deepest pockets were starting to squeeze out mid-tier players. We had built something valuable — a supply chain infrastructure and brand relationships that took years to cultivate — but scaling to the next level would have required capital and operational bandwidth we didn't have." The acquiring company, Ren explains, had been a strategic investor in Fanqu's Series B round. "That relationship gave them visibility into how we operated. When they approached us about a full acquisition, it wasn't

Inspired by "The Greatest Show on Earth," a 17-year-old high schooler put on a hackathon | WAVES

The trumpet of the golden age.

Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton: My Fifty-Year Deep Learning Career and Research Philosophy

Almost all progress in the field of neural networks stems from intuition that strikes in a flash.

Angry Miao Li Nan: The Battle for "Made in China" Mindshare in Global Markets Is the Blue Ocean Opportunity of a Lifetime for Gen Z | Z Talk

Chinese brands can win the battle for mindshare on the global luxury battlefield.

Autumn Dreams, Good Fortune on the Breeze | Z News

A hint of coolness in September.

ZhenFund angel project "Luchuang Technology" announces completion of hundreds of millions of RMB in Series A++ funding | Z News

Dedicated to building world-class large-scale video generation models.

Yuan Liu of ZhenFund: What Kind of Entrepreneur Stands Out in This Era? | Z Talk

Great investors recognize patterns; great founders break them.

We invested in large language models, AI applications, and embodied intelligence, but BlueRun Ventures still feels it hasn't FOMO'd hard enough.

The more optimistic doers.

ZhenFund angel project "MenuSifu" announces $40 million Series B funding round | Z News

MenuSifu helps Chinese restaurant brands go global.

The user wants me to translate a Chinese title into English. Let me analyze this: "两万字产品销售深度干货：Clari CRO 揭秘 4 万亿收入管理背后，驱动销售增长的独家法则｜Z Talk" Breaking it down: - 两万字 = 20,000 words - 产品销售深度干货 = in-depth product sales干货 (干货 is a Chinese internet slang for substantive/practical content, often translated as "insights," "know-how," "practical guide," "deep dive," etc.) - Clari CRO = Clari CRO (keep as is, it's a company title) - 揭秘 = reveals / unveils / breaks down - 4 万亿 = $4 trillion (or 4 trillion - need to decide if currency is implied; in Chinese business context this is likely USD or just a number; given Clari is a US company, probably USD) - 收入管理 = revenue management - 背后 = behind / under the hood / behind the scenes - 驱动销售增长的独家法则 = exclusive rules/principles for driving sales growth - Z Talk = Z Talk (keep as is, likely a publication/series name) This appears to be an article title for elsewhere.news. Let me craft a natural English headline. Options: - "20,000 Words of Deep Product Sales Know-How: Clari CRO Reveals the Exclusive Principles Driving Sales Growth Behind $4 Tr

As a salesperson, my job is to understand all the internal constraints within the client's organization.

Moonshot AI Founder Zhilin Yang's Latest Take: Deep Reflections on OpenAI's o1 Paradigm Shift | Z Talk

The Next Phase of Foundation Models: A New Paradigm?

Castbox's Wang Xiaoyu: 50+ Products, 50M+ MAU, How a Podcast App Went Global and Became an AI-Powered Product Factory

Stay at the table and wait for a better opportunity.

Talking AI Tech Applications, Founder Mindset, and the Scale of Entrepreneurship | A Conversation with Xiaoyu Wang of Castbox

ZhenFund Early-Stage Project "XCharge" Successfully Lists on Nasdaq | Z News

Warm congratulations to XCharge! A new journey begins — the future is bright!

YC Founder's Latest Viral Silicon Valley Essay: Founder Mode May Be the Better Operating Model for Startups | Z Talk

In reality, there are two fundamentally different ways to run a company: founder mode versus manager mode.

ZhenFund Wins "Most Active Early-Stage Investment Firm" and Multiple Other Awards from First Voice | Z News

**China's Most Active Investors in Q2 2024**

China Resources Beer CEO Hou Xiaohai in Conversation with Orienspace's Yao Song: Building Rockets and Brewing Beer Both Require Innovation | Z Talk

Yao Song's WeChat Moments signature: "Today is the youngest day of your life."

Iterating the Last 1%: A Founder's Guide to Organizational Growth | Z Talk

Closed-Door Talent Salon Recap: How to Control Organizational Growth?

ZhenFund's early-stage portfolio company Infinigence AI announced the completion of a nearly 500 million yuan Series A financing round | Z News

It has raised nearly RMB 1 billion in total funding.

Black Myth's First Investor Daniel: After Investing 60 Million for 20%, He Doubled Down With Another 100 Million

ZhenFund's investment philosophy and the Black Myth story.

Late Summer Sun, Breezes Bringing Autumn | Z News

A gentle breeze blows warm and pleasant.

ZhenFund Angel Project "Hyde Hydrogen Energy" Announces Completion of New Funding Round | Z News

China's most innovative green hydrogen technology company.

Silicon Intelligence Goes Left, Colossal-AI Goes Right | Z Talk

Colossal-AI's approach to training large models is already making money.

Limitless Founder: The Full 30,000-Character Interview — A 7-Minute Pitch, Thousands of Investor Inquiries, and the Fundraising Secrets of a Startup | Z Talk

Only three or four things truly determine whether a company succeeds or fails.

The Hype Around *Black Myth: Wukong*, and the Barren Landscape of Game Investment

The world needs *Black Myth*.

In My Prime: How Game Science Made *Black Myth: Wukong* | Z Talk

When you decide to do what you truly love, good things follow.

2024 Future Science Prize Winners Announced | Z News

Celebrating scientists and honoring the spirit of scientific inquiry.

Entrepreneurs Aspiring to Create 20% of China's Future GDP Are at ZhenPlanet | Z Events

We talked about everything related to AI entrepreneurship.

A Conversation with Ye Bin of Xiaoyezi: Is a Stringless Guitar a "Stupidity Tax"? Hear What a Ten-Year Industry Veteran Has to Say | *The Real Deal* EP30

Find your ONE.

A Chat with Xiaoyezi Founder Ye Bin: How to Learn an Instrument Painlessly? Try Going Smart!

4 Stanford PhDs Crash Into a Trillion-Yuan Track | Z Circle

Force control is a critical, necessary step toward humanoid robots.

Ten Thousand-Word Conversation with Scale AI Founder Alex Wang: Why Data, Not Compute, Is the Biggest Bottleneck for Large Models｜Z Talk

We've exhausted all the easily accessible data.

ZhenFund-Backed LuminWave Raises Tens of Millions of Yuan in C2 Round | Z News

The proceeds from this round will go toward rapid R&D iteration and mass production of high-end 3D camera chips.

Summer rains bring gentle relief, good things flourish like green grass | Z News

Long, languid July.

A Conversation with Zhilin Yang: Focus on Productivity, Build the One Product That Is Kimi | Z Talk

Resist organizational inertia.

ZhenFund Early-Stage Project "NIP Group" Officially Lists on Nasdaq: China's First Esports Stock Is Born | Z News

Warm congratulations to NIP Group, the "first esports stock of China"!

Z Talk: A Conversation with Uzis Founder Sen Wang — Dropping Out, Returning to China at 22, and 10x'ing GMV in Three Years Selling Basketball Socks

We don't do anything outside of basketball, and it's impossible to understand that many people.

Ahead of the Olympics, a Conversation with UZIS Founder on China's Sports Consumer Market

The Only Thing That Matters for Startups Is PMF | Z Talk

The number one killer of startups is lack of market.

When I Was One Step Away from the Founder | Z Talk

Ostrich Club Members' Entrepreneurial Stories, Revealed for the First Time Ever.

HeyGen Founder Interview: How an AI Video Startup Hit $35M ARR Without Building Its Own Foundation Model | Z Circle

Finding the balance between user needs and technical capabilities.

A Conversation with Qin Youming: From the MaRS Lab to the "Liuxing" Machine, Building the Most Authentic Virtual World | Seriously Speaking EP28

The future belongs to the three-dimensional world.

A Conversation with Aaron Qin: From the MaRS Lab to "Liuxing," Building the Most Authentic Virtual World

Professor Lu Cewu's Speech: Has Embodied Intelligence Found Its Own Scaling Law? | Z Talk

Starting from first principles in embodied intelligence.

A Conversation with Momenta's Cao Xudong: Beyond Moore's Law for Autonomous Driving | Z Circle

The hardest choice is not changing your original choice.

ZhenCraft Review: How AI Hardware Founders Can Achieve PMF | Z Events

Demand drives product; product drives technology.

In-Depth Conversation with the vLLM Team: How to Build a Successful Open-Source Ecosystem from Scratch

Consensus Within Non-Consensus: A Conversation Among China's LLM Investors | Yunqi Tech π

New Wave, New Future

When Moonshot AI's investors sat down with MiniMax's investors

Five individuals and two companies.

Yusen Dai: Embrace the Era, Optimism, and the Power of Young People | Crossover with AI Tech Review Talk

A Good AI Should Be Like Doraemon | Koji x Yusen

Guan Shanxing: I'll Tell Everyone When the Problem Arrives | WAVES

"Learn to become a (young) entrepreneur."

Inside Duolingo: The Little Green Bird's China Playbook

Exclusive | Moonshot AI's valuation reaches $3 billion in new round; Tencent joins after Alibaba

A full list of Moonshot AI's investors to date.

Vastech Energy's Yiyang Liu: From "Death Major" to PhD Founder, Finding a New Path to Commercializing Aqueous Batteries

A Conversation with RightBrain AI's Liang Jian: A Peking University Graduate Leaping Into the AI Era

ZhenFund's Tianyi Qin: Globalization Will Unfold Cautiously in a New Form

Investing overseas, but not talking about the destination.

A New Decade for Venture Capital: Hongshan's First Answer

What's the solution for early-stage investing?

NEIWAI Founder Xiaolu Liu: Navigating Business Cycles Through Eastern Philosophy

OpenAI Sora Launch: The Business Insights and Tech Innovation Behind It

Looking Back at 2023: The World Has Really Changed

These people and events reshaped 2023 — and will shape the years ahead.

A Conversation with KY Qianzhuang: When Healing Becomes a Generational Need, Does a More Universal Form of Mental Health Service Exist?

The roads are packed — time to try hailing a flying taxi.

The Day Munger Died: 18 WeChat Moments About Him

Mourning the Passing of a Wise Mind

Diagnostic Detectors for Every Ailment: How Much Do You Know About In Vitro Diagnostics?

A Conversation with Li Nan: From Meizu to Angry Miao, an Unwavering Eye for Aesthetics and Consumer Insight

Today, we try to pry open the "black box" of autonomous driving.

I Tried Writing Microfiction With AI — Turns Out 95% of the Time Was Spent Wrestling With the AI

Destruction Precedes Creation: Rebooting the Era of General Artificial Intelligence

On August 22, Chinese tech think tank *Jazzyear* hosted the "2023 Jazzyear Gravitational Force X Tech Industry Investment Conference" in Beijing. Dozens of industry leaders gathered to discuss cutting-edge topics, using AI and other hard-tech investments as a starting point to analyze emerging trends in the tech industry and explore new directions, opportunities, and futures for the sector. In 2023, generative AI led by ChatGPT has swept across the globe, ushering in a second wave of artificial intelligence.

Talking Anxiety, Appetite, and Courage with a Peking University Neuroscientist

Can You Still Remember the Last Time a Purchase Actually Satisfied You? | WAVES RADIO

Fengqiao Capital's Chang Xin in conversation with Luxe.Co's Yu Yan.

The XR Bubble and the Trajectory Ahead: From Polygon Games to Reality Fusion

From 2D to 3D: Pulling Back the Curtain on Virtual Reality's Technical Foundations

200 Days of Frenzy: China's LLM Wars Stuck in a Stalemate

Consensus can form quickly — and dissolve just as fast.

The Age of VUCA: How to Capture the Next Wave of Growth in Industrial Robots

How 28 Young People Spent 33 Hours on an Island

A celebration means something when it's shared.

Have robots learned to fold laundry and make coffee after large models were applied?

Large Models Are Just the Beginning: Toward a Future of Multi-Agent Systems and Close Human Collaboration

"You're only 36. You can be anyone you want to be."

Never stop moving forward.

Exclusive | The General-Purpose LLM Startup Wave: The First Battle Is About to End

Contestants, take your positions.

When ZhenFund's youngest partner faced life's greatest joy and sharpest pain all at once

"Life is a wilderness."

Hongshan Seed Deploys Another $480 Million, Early-Stage Investing Is About to Get Even More Crowded

What Should Seed Investing Look Like in a New Cycle?

Exclusive | Source Code Capital, ZhenFund Confirmed to Join In — Wang Huiwen's "Chinese OpenAI" Is Being Scrambled For

China's investment world seems to have gone back to 2016 overnight.

ChatGPT is the talk of Silicon Valley, but the buzz is theirs.

"Some people laughed. Some people cried. The vast majority fell silent."

Energy storage batteries, chips, and other frontier sectors land funding; smart manufacturing leads the charge overseas | Rongbao · September

September milestone.

WeView, a next-generation energy storage battery manufacturer, has closed multiple consecutive funding rounds totaling over 400 million RMB.

Gigawatt-level vanadium flow battery production capacity is driving the industry's takeoff.

Two Decades of RMB Funds: Between Life and Death

Are USD Funds in Trouble? Is It the RMB Funds' Turn to Make a Move?

Spring Comes Quietly to Guomao

For China's investment industry at this moment, the eerily quiet Guomao feels like a metaphor.

2022, the Door Opens to the Future | 5Y News Monthly

The big news from last month.

5Y News | AI Drug Discovery Company Redesign Science Raises $15 Million

Advancing structure-based drug discovery.

Adaps Photonics Closes B1 Round to Double Down on High-Performance dToF Depth Sensor Chips

Developing advanced sensing chips for industry, creating "eyes of insight" for the future.

FreeS Family Funding News · July | PatPat, Yanming Biotech, Qbit, and Innostar Secure Financing

We've also released three short videos this issue — follow us to check them out.

Rongbao · June | BOSS Zhipin and Dingdong Maicai successfully go public; medical, industrial upgrade, and chip companies close new funding rounds

Xingji, Dongjing Yiwan, Qitan Technology, and other companies have completed new funding rounds.

5Y News | After Raising Hundreds of Millions in Three Consecutive Rounds, "Yahaha" to Build Real-Time Digital Entertainment UGC Platform

A no-code, multiplayer interactive entertainment creation platform for global users.

EDA digital implementation solutions provider Xingji announced the completion of a Pre-A funding round worth several hundred million yuan.

Where the chip leads, there we go — together, forging a new era of digital intelligence.

To Better Kick Off March | 5Y News Monthly

The major events of February.

Chip IP Company XinYaohui Closes Angel and Pre-A Rounds Totaling Over 400 Million Yuan | 5Y News

Accelerate chip innovation.

XinYaohui Closes Two Rounds Raising Over 400 Million Yuan to Develop Advanced-Process Chip IP and Accelerate Chip Innovation

Developing advanced-process chip IP products and solutions through independent R&D, bringing new luster to China's semiconductor industry.

Gaorong Bulletin · December | Multiple Gaorong Ventures Portfolio Companies Secure New Funding in Chips, Robotics, AI Drug Discovery, New Brands, and Other Sectors

Stepping into 2021.

5Y News | EDA Technology Breakthrough Xinhuazhang Announces Completion of Series A Funding, Fully Deploying R&D for EDA 2.0

We believe the window of opportunity for new startups has arrived in the EDA space, one of the core platforms in the semiconductor industry.

Rongbao · November | Yatsen Holding and Ucommune successfully list on US equities, Nuro closes Series C funding

Working together to create a better life.

5Y News | Vastai Technologies, a high-performance intelligent vision chip design company, announced the completion of a $50 million Series A funding round.

Vastai Technologies has completed a $50 million Series A financing round, with 5Y Capital co-leading the investment.

Autonomous driving company Nuro announced a $500 million Series C funding round.

Apply world-class technology to improve people's everyday lives.

China's First AI Microbiome Drug Company "Unknown" Raises Nearly $10 Million in Funding

Leveraging AI and bioengineering technologies to deliver precision management of gut health for Chinese consumers.

Flexiv Unveils First Adaptive Robotic Arm, Bringing Third-Generation Robotics Technology

The world's first adaptive robot made its debut at the 2019 Hannover Messe in Germany.

Video Technology Company YouHua Tech Raises Tens of Millions of USD in Series B Funding | Gaorong Ventures News

We will continue to increase R&D investment. Strong technical and product capabilities are the foremost conditions for winning in the video space.

XtalPi Closes $46 Million Series B+ Round | FreeS Fund Deal Brief

Empowering drug R&D organizations worldwide.

Club Factory Raises $100 Million in Series C, FreeS Fund Continues to Follow On | Funding News

Cross-border e-commerce — a market that rivals daigou in scale.

Why Is the Pay Gap Between '80s and '90s AI Talent Only 15%? | *2017 Early-Stage Enterprise Compensation Survey Report*

The salary secrets of 19,014 positions across 152 companies.

How Should Startups Design a Compensation System? Here's a Chance to Get the *2017 Early-Stage Enterprise Compensation Survey Report*

Manage the "people" and the "money."