Gaorong Report · July | Gaorong Ventures Ranked Top 5 VC Funds by Returns at 2020 China Fund of Funds Summit, Decoding Consumer Investment Logic Under the "Dual Circulation" Development Paradigm

About Rongbao: Rongbao is a monthly digest curating notable news and insights from Gaorong Ventures and its portfolio companies. Each issue features just 10 items — covering key funding updates and milestones, but also highlighting emerging trends, innovations, and perspectives. True to Gaorong's vision of "creating a better life through innovation," we believe every step forward unlocks infinite possibilities.

New E-Commerce · Pinduoduo and China Agricultural University Launch "Duoduo Agricultural Research Technology Competition"

On July 22, the inaugural "Duoduo Agricultural Research Technology Competition" — co-hosted by China Agricultural University and Pinduoduo — kicked off its final round in Yunnan, pitting young agricultural researchers from top global institutions against master strawberry growers from China's leading strawberry-producing counties.

The finals used high-altitude strawberry cultivation in Yunnan as the test case. Four AI teams and four veteran farming teams, selected from 17 high-caliber entrants in the preliminary round, competed across four months on yield, quality, efficiency, and other metrics. By combining "master grower expertise" with "artificial intelligence," the competition aimed to develop more localized digital agriculture solutions. Guided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the event brought together 54 young scientists and top agricultural practitioners from around the world to accelerate the real-world application of cutting-edge digital agriculture technologies in China.

Logistics Robotics · Beijing Mayor Chen Jining Visits Geekplus

As reported by Beijing Daily on July 16, Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, visited new R&D institutions and tech companies to assess innovation progress. He emphasized leveraging Beijing's scientific strengths, innovating institutional mechanisms, integrating resources, and building synergy to advance the capital's national science and technology innovation center — actively bidding for major national science missions in service of the country's innovation-driven development strategy.

Chen toured Geekplus, where he discussed the company's products and growth trajectory with the founding team. Geekplus is a leading full-category logistics robotics company. Chen expressed support for the company's plans to establish a smart robotics manufacturing base in Beijing, complete industrial chains, and achieve further growth. He encouraged Geekplus to leverage its strengths in building intelligent logistics applications for major transportation infrastructure and wholesale market upgrades, contributing to smart city development and more refined urban management.

Online Education · Gaotu Techedu Opens Hangzhou Operations Center, Plans 10,000+ Global Hires

On July 28, Gaotu Techedu signed a strategic partnership with Hangzhou's Binjiang District government, formally establishing its presence in the city. This follows operations centers launched earlier this year in Jinan, Wuhan, and other cities. The Hangzhou center will house dual-teacher teams for K-12, adult, and family education, with projected headcount exceeding 3,000 and annual student reach surpassing one million. The facility will localize educational services, combining internet technology with education to advance online K-12 learning in Hangzhou.

Earlier this year, Gaotu Techedu announced a "10,000-person recruitment" drive, opening over 10,000 positions globally to support domestic demand expansion and employment stability. The company has established 10+ city operations centers across Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Jinan, Hefei, Taiyuan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin, and other cities, recruiting local talent.

Hyperconvergence · SmartX Closes Nearly RMB 200 Million in Series B+ and C Funding to Accelerate Enterprise Cloud Expansion

On July 27, hyperconvergence leader SmartX announced consecutive Series B+ and C rounds totaling nearly RMB 200 million. The funds will primarily build next-generation distributed computing and storage engines for enterprise cloud, while expanding into container and edge computing scenarios. Gaorong Ventures participated in SmartX's Series A1 round in 2015, with follow-on investments in 2016 and 2017.

Founded in 2013, SmartX delivers agile, reliable hyperconvergence and distributed block storage solutions through its SMTX OS software and Halo appliances, enabling customers to rapidly build efficient, scalable IT infrastructure. Through sustained breakthroughs in distributed block storage and other core technologies, SmartX's hyperconvergence products offer distinctive advantages in stability, performance, and openness. Going forward, SmartX will build on its technology, product, and customer strengths to intensify R&D in distributed storage and computing under enterprise cloud architecture, deepen hyperconvergence in mission-critical scenarios, and accelerate expansion into containers, edge computing, and other emerging use cases — laying solid groundwork for "new infrastructure" and industry digital transformation.

Tech-Enabled Philanthropy · Shuidichou Surpasses 1 Billion Individual Donations

At 19:17 on July 24, 2020, Shuidichou set a new milestone — cumulative individual donations on the platform surpassed 1 billion. Over four years since launching its philanthropy platform, Shuidichou has garnered widespread support from donors across society. On January 19, 2018, the platform reached 100 million donations, just 19 months after going live. To date, 1 billion individual donations have totaled RMB 32 billion, averaging RMB 32 per donation. Shuidichou has transformed traditional aid models, leveraging technology to empower philanthropy and business models to amplify impact — channeling individual contributions to help families in crisis find their way out of hardship and back to hope.

Shared Mobility · Hellobike Hosts First Tech Open Day, Unveils Sub-Meter Electronic Fencing

On July 30, Hellobike held its inaugural "Technology Makes Your Ride Better" Tech Open Day in Shanghai, showcasing "sub-meter electronic fencing" and "T-position parking" technologies, while announcing it would be among the first to adopt 4G Cat.1 communication networks.

At the event, Hellobike and Qianxun Spatial Intelligence debuted their jointly developed "high-precision vehicle positioning and electronic fence parking technology." Qianxun operates 2,600+ BeiDou ground-based augmentation stations nationwide. Combined with Qianxun's RTK differential positioning algorithms, Hellobike's e-bike positioning accuracy improved to sub-meter precision. In June, the final BeiDou-3 satellite was successfully launched and recently entered service; Hellobike announced full BeiDou positioning integration across its shared bikes and e-bikes. The open day also demonstrated high-precision "T-position parking" technology, with the first batch of equipped e-bikes scheduled for pilot deployment by late August.

Perspective · Chang Chen: Decoding New Consumer Investment Logic Under the Dual Circulation Development Framework

Consumption is seen as the "ballast stone" stabilizing China's economic foundation, and reviving consumption while unlocking its potential is a major priority for this year's economic work. Looking further ahead, China is building a new dual circulation development pattern centered on domestic circulation with mutual reinforcement between domestic and international markets — making domestic demand, especially consumption, an even more prominent engine.

Chang Chen, Founding Partner of Gaorong Ventures, recently spoke with China Entrepreneur magazine about emerging trends and shifts in the consumer sector, and investment opportunities in new supply, new demand, and new demographics in the post-pandemic era. Chen noted that consumption is the primary engine and driving force of China's economic growth. Particularly after COVID-19, stabilizing and expanding consumer spending, and driving consumption recovery and potential release, are critical measures for countering pandemic shocks and revitalizing the economy. Against this backdrop, every layer of the consumer industry is accelerating its evolution. On the supply side, higher demands are being placed on platform and distribution efficiency, product quality, and more. On the demand side, new consumption formats are being cultivated faster, online and offline channels are integrating organically, online education and telemedicine are rising, and society as a whole is developing more mature consumption attitudes. At the infrastructure level, the consumer industry is placing greater demands on 5G networks, supply chain digitization, logistics networks, and more — and behind all these changes lie new opportunities for entrepreneurship and investment.

Recognition · Gaorong Ventures Ranks Top 5 VC Funds by Returns at 2020 China Fund of Funds Summit, with Continued Accolades in Consumer, Tech, and Healthcare

In July, at the 2020 China Fund of Funds Summit, Gaorong Ventures was named to the "Top 5 VC Funds by Returns." At the STAR Market first-anniversary summit hosted by Shanghai United Media Group, Jiemian·Cailianshe, and STAR Market Daily, Gaorong received "Best Sci-Tech Investment Institution." In rankings published by 21st Century Business Herald and 21 Innovation Capital Research Institute, Gaorong was recognized among the "Top 15 VC/PE Firms by Investment Competitiveness in Consumer Services (2019–2020)" and "Top 20 VC/PE Firms by Investment Competitiveness in Healthcare (2019–2020)."

Live Recruitment · Gaorong Ventures Partners with BOSS Zhipin and Portfolio Companies for "Follow Your Heart, Join the Talent Pool" Live Hiring Event

On July 18, Gaorong Ventures joined forces with BOSS Zhipin and frontier technology companies in its portfolio to host the "Follow Your Heart, Join the Talent Pool" live recruitment event. The stream targeted engineers, MBA candidates, and new graduates, sharing trends in frontier tech entrepreneurship, presenting quality positions, and supporting real-time resume submission.

During the event, five CEOs/CTOs from decision intelligence, robotics and automation, data intelligence, and intelligent operations shared how innovative technologies are boosting efficiency in their respective fields. Yong Sheng Liu, CEO of Hyperparameter, discussed the vision and progress of exploring evolutionary AI in virtual worlds; Jiaji Zhou, CEO of XYZ Robotics, broke down the technical path and commercial value of hand-eye coordination; Binjie Fei, CEO of Entropy Reduction Technology, explained building one-stop data intelligence platforms to help industries become data-driven and cost-efficient; Dapeng Liu, CEO of Bizseer Technology, interpreted using data and AI to enhance operations efficiency; and Qiang Qiu, CTO of Ruben Technology, analyzed current industrial automation status, pain points, and Ruben's innovative solutions.

Ronghui · Data-Driven Brand Marketing Deep Dive, Enterprise Service Innovation Opportunities Workshop

In July, Ronghui partnered with Canjian Academy for a "Brand Growth Bootcamp." Ji Xia, CEO of Molecular Union, former Alibaba marketing director, and former general manager of Bilibili's brand marketing center, shared how brands can excel at digital marketing and comprehensively improve advertising conversion efficiency. With people, products, and content now fully datafied, brand marketing has shifted entirely to data-driven approaches. Xia noted that facing increasingly complex traffic logic across internet platforms and increasingly segmented users, brand marketers need product manager thinking to understand the product and traffic mechanisms behind different platforms, while data-driving every decision — using multi-dimensional analytics and "content horse racing" to continuously approach optimal matching of people, content, and touchpoints.

Additionally, Ronghui invited Steve Fu, VP at enterprise services giant Salesforce, to share Salesforce's success factors with Gaorong's enterprise service portfolio companies — covering competitive moats, subscription pricing, customer success philosophy, and PaaS platform development — followed by interactive discussions with portfolio company CEOs on key issues and future trends in enterprise services.