BOSS Zhipin Completes Dual Primary Listing, Baijiayun Debuts on Nasdaq, Gaorong Ventures Earns Multiple Accolades | Gaorong Monthly · December

About Gaorong Report

The bells of 2023 have rung. "The new year is not only humanity's display of the orderly civilization we have created to the entire universe, but also a solemn ceremony each person holds within their heart — bidding farewell to the past and making promises to the future." This month's Gaorong Report reviews the important milestones of Gaorong Ventures portfolio companies from last month. United by our shared belief in "creating a better life," we look forward to running toward 2023 together.

Dec

News

#01

BOSS Zhipin Completes Dual Primary Listing on Hong Kong Stock Exchange Technology-Driven Services for Over 100 Million Users

On December 22, 2022, BOSS Zhipin, a technology company in the human resources sector, officially completed its dual primary listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by way of introduction. Its Class A ordinary shares began trading on the HKEX under the stock code "2076."

Following the completion of the dual primary listing, BOSS Zhipin became a company listed on both the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Gaorong Ventures was one of the lead investors in BOSS Zhipin's Series C funding round in 2016 and participated in multiple subsequent rounds.

According to the prospectus, as of September 30, 2022, BOSS Zhipin had cumulatively served 113.2 million verified job seekers and 9.6 million verified enterprises. In Q3 2022, the BOSS Zhipin app reached an average monthly active user (MAU) base of 32.4 million. In the first half of 2022, the platform's average daily active users (DAU) as a percentage of average MAU reached 27.8%, both figures leading the industry.

This growing user base has underpinned BOSS Zhipin's revenue growth. Per the prospectus, in the first three quarters of 2022, BOSS Zhipin achieved revenue of RMB 3.429 billion, with operating cash flow of RMB 847 million. In 2020 and 2021, BOSS Zhipin's revenue was RMB 1.944 billion and RMB 4.259 billion respectively, representing year-on-year growth rates of 95% and 119%.

Under non-GAAP measures, excluding stock-based compensation expenses, BOSS Zhipin recorded adjusted net profit of RMB 853 million in 2021. In the first three quarters of 2022, this figure reached RMB 740 million, marking six consecutive quarters of profitability on an adjusted net profit basis since its IPO — demonstrating stable operational performance and profitability. Read more

#02

Baijiayun Successfully Lists on Nasdaq Becoming China's First Audio-Video SaaS Stock

On December 26, 2022, domestic audio-video technology service provider Baijiayun announced the completion of its merger and listing transaction with Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd. With this, Baijiayun officially began trading on the Nasdaq, becoming China's first audio-video SaaS stock. The company's new stock code was changed to "RTC," short for "Real Time Communication." Gaorong Ventures became one of Baijiayun's early shareholders in 2017 and has accompanied the company ever since.

Founded in 2017, Baijiayun is a B2B video cloud technology service provider that solves various pain points and needs in enterprise video technology applications. Through three major product categories — "video SaaS/PaaS services, video cloud products and software, and video system solutions" — the company uses integrable and customizable live streaming technology to help clients rapidly deploy their proprietary live streaming systems, empowering enterprises to achieve digital learning and digital marketing transformation based on online video technology. Its services are primarily applied in education, corporate training, marketing, exhibitions, recruitment, annual meetings, and other business scenarios.

According to the previously disclosed Proxy Statement, Baijiayun recorded revenue of $23.37 million in fiscal year 2020 and $41.45 million in 2021, representing growth of nearly 80% with rapid business expansion. Over the past two fiscal years, Baijiayun maintained net profit margins of approximately 10%, remaining profitable. Going forward, supported by its public listing platform, Baijiayun will continue to broaden its business and deepen its presence in the domestic audio-video market. Read more

Dec

Funding

#01

Qitan Tech Completes RMB 700 Million Series C Funding Continuing to Advance Commercialization of Domestic Nanopore Sequencing Technology

Recently, Qitan Tech announced the completion of its RMB 700 million Series C funding round. This round was led by Meituan, with continued follow-on investment from the Capital Health Fund managed by Huagai Capital and BioTrack Capital. Founded in 2016, Qitan Tech is the first domestic company to independently develop nanopore gene sequencers and pioneer their commercialization. Gaorong Ventures led Qitan Tech's Series A funding round in 2020 and participated in its Series B round.

In December 2021, after five years of independent R&D, Qitan Tech successfully launched China's first commercialized nanopore gene sequencer, the QNome-3841, and announced the completion of its first production base, officially ushering in the era of domestic nanopore gene sequencing. In June 2022, Qitan Tech released the QNome-3841hex nanopore gene sequencer, marking the beginning of matrix-style development for domestic nanopore gene sequencers.

In terms of infrastructure, Qitan Tech has established China's first nanopore gene sequencer production base in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio-Town, with total investment of nearly RMB 200 million, capable of producing 2,000 sequencers and 1 million sets of supporting detection reagents and chips annually.

To date, over one hundred institutional users have adopted Qitan's QNome sequencing platform, encompassing leading domestic research institutes, universities, hospitals, and CDCs, with applications including pathogen research, animal disease prevention and control, molecular breeding, forensic investigation, and public health epidemic prevention. Read more

#02

Fable Biotech Completes Over RMB 100 Million Pre-B Funding Round Accelerating Development of Original Innovative Drugs for Neurological Diseases

Recently, Fable Biotechnology announced the completion of a Pre-B funding round exceeding RMB 100 million. This round was led by Fortune Venture Capital, with follow-on investment from Bloomage Lanya, Fang Sheng Capital, Zhongguancun Collaborative Innovation Fund, and Daoyuan Capital. Existing shareholders Gaorong Ventures and Qingyuan Capital continued to increase their stakes. Gaorong Ventures led Fable Biotech's Series A+ funding round in 2019 and has participated in subsequent rounds.

Fable Biotech is a biotechnology company focused on developing original innovative drugs for central nervous system diseases. To date, Fable Biotech's R&D pipeline comprises nine innovative projects, encompassing both small-molecule chemical drugs and large-molecule biologics, with target products all being first-in-class globally or world-leading. Projects that have entered or are about to enter clinical research stages include: the FB-1071 project for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), the FB1001 project for acute optic nerve injury, and the FB1006 ALS research project led by Peking University Third Hospital with Fable as a major participant. Additionally, potential drug candidates FB1003 and FB1008, with novel mechanisms of action for chronic pain and Alzheimer's disease, have entered the preclinical stage.

Throughout its R&D process, Fable Biotech has significantly enhanced the innovation and translational potential of its drug candidates and accelerated pipeline development by building platforms for blood-brain barrier delivery technology, animal disease models, and biomarker discovery. Read more

#03

Jingneng Microelectronics Completes First Funding Round Developing Automotive-Grade Power Semiconductors

In December 2022, Jingneng Microelectronics, under Geely Technology Group, announced the completion of its Pre-A funding round. This round was led by Walden International, with follow-on investment from Gaorong Ventures, Jiayu Capital, Wofeng Industrial, and other institutions.

Seizing the high-growth trend of vehicle electrification, Jingneng focuses on inverter power modules as its entry point. Through combined capabilities in "chip design + module manufacturing + automotive-grade certification," the company develops automotive-grade IGBT chips and modules, SiC devices, and low-to-medium voltage MOSFETs, serving new energy vehicles, electric motorcycles, photovoltaics, energy storage, and other "dual carbon" industry scenarios.

IGBT and SiC power modules are core components of inverters for new energy vehicles and photovoltaics, often called the "heart" of power systems, enabling efficient power conversion and circuit control. By building a "chip-vehicle linkage" mechanism, Jingneng continues to forge core capabilities in chip design, module manufacturing, and automotive-grade certification, providing customers in new energy vehicles, electric motorcycles, photovoltaics, and energy storage with products and services offering extreme cost-performance ratios, with multiple products set to begin vehicle installation in 2023. Read more

Dec

By the Numbers

#01

Dingdong Maicai Releases "Eating Well at Home" Consumer Trends Report 2022 Private-Label Prepared Food Sales More Than Tripled Year-on-Year

Dingdong Maicai recently released its "Eating Well at Home" consumer trends report, which shows that urban household consumers' perceptions of primary agricultural products and processed foods have shifted considerably. This includes greater inclination to purchase high-quality, safe fruits and vegetables, increased acceptance of high-quality prepared foods, and continued trust in place of origin and geographical indication products.

Dingdong Maicai's data reflects that on its online platform, agricultural products are being rediscovered by more people, particularly high-quality agricultural products. To date, Dingdong Maicai's premium "Three Excellences" vegetable sales in December 2022 grew fourfold compared to their initial launch in August. Organic products have also expanded from vegetables to encompass meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, grains, oils, and other full categories.

The platform also shows that over the past year, sales of Dingdong Maicai's major private-label prepared food brands (including Dingdong Daman Guan, Dingdong Wang Pai Cai, Boxing Shrimp, and Cai Qingchang) more than doubled compared to the previous year.

Supported and driven by fresh e-commerce, consumers are increasingly valuing foods from specific origins. The report notes that 2022 sales of geographical indication products grew 30% year-on-year. Over the past year, through its efficient supply chain, the Dingdong Maicai platform has helped numerous local poultry and livestock varieties expand beyond their home regions.

#02

Dewu App Announces "2023 Brand Plan" In 2022, Helped 6,950 Quality Brands Reach Young Consumers

On January 5, Dewu held its 2023 Youth Power Brand Conference and announced the "2023 Brand Plan," which will help more quality brands build their presence among young consumers on Dewu through four major initiatives: substantial resource support, open private domain access, operational support, and two-way communication.

In 2022, 6,950 quality brands gained new young consumer audiences on the Dewu App, covering categories including trendy sneakers, beauty, bags and accessories, apparel, designer toys, digital devices, home goods, appliances, and food. Numerous well-known brands officially joined the Dewu App, launching 640,000 major new products for young consumers.

At the conference, consulting firm Roland Berger released a new white paper. Based on data samples and user research from the Dewu App, it found that young people's core differentiated characteristics of high potential, high vitality, and high tonality will reshape the consumer market, bringing stronger consumption potential, higher purchase frequency, and greater consumption increments.

#03

Giant Biogene Again Undertakes National Key R&D Program Project Leading Recombinant Collagen Bio-Manufacturing

Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced the approved projects for certain national key R&D program special projects. The "Green Bio-Manufacturing" special project "Key Technologies and Applications for Green Bio-Manufacturing of Medical Proteins," led by Northwest University with Giant Biogene's participation, was approved.

This project will focus on breakthroughs in key scientific problems including the molecular design principles for low immunogenicity of medical proteins, the adaptation mechanisms for constructing low-immunogenicity high-expression engineering bacteria, and the structure-activity relationships and optimization mechanisms for structural uniformity, stability, and post-translational modification of recombinant medical proteins. Aiming at potential performance and efficacy deficiencies of clinical medical proteins, it will create bioactive ingredients with specific efficacy for tissue filling, anti-wrinkle, antibacterial, and thrombolysis applications, leading international medical protein bio-manufacturing.

Participation in this national key R&D program project further solidifies Giant Biogene's leading position in recombinant collagen bio-manufacturing. The company will continue increasing R&D investment to power technological innovation.

#04

Abogen Biosciences' Omicron BA.4/5 mRNA Vaccine Begins Phase III Clinical Enrollment in Philippines and UAE

On December 22, 2022, Abogen Biosciences announced that its Omicron variant BA.4/5 mRNA vaccine in its COVID-19 vaccine pipeline had recently begun Phase III clinical study subject enrollment in the Philippines and UAE.

As the third-generation vaccine in the company's COVID-19 pipeline, this mRNA vaccine incorporates process optimizations based on the technology of ARCoV, the mRNA vaccine previously launched by the company in Indonesia, further improving safety and efficacy. In October 2022, it first received approval in the UAE and successfully commenced Phase I clinical trials. Blinded safety data showed that after one dose of the BA.4/5 mRNA vaccine, adverse event rates were low and mild, all Grade 1, with no Grade 2 or higher adverse events, demonstrating good safety and tolerability.

Meanwhile, the BA.4/5 mRNA vaccine's antigen design has been re-screened and optimized, demonstrating stronger and broader immunogenicity against viruses including BA.5 and BF.7, which are currently the main circulating strains in China. It is expected to provide better, broader, and more durable protection against various Omicron subtypes currently prevalent globally.

#05

ProfoundBio Announces First Subject Dosed in FRα-Targeted ADC Drug PRO1184

On January 3, ProfoundBio announced that its ADC drug PRO1184 (clinical trial number NCT05579366) had completed first-subject dosing in its Phase I clinical trial, while the clinical trial application for ADC drug PRO1160 has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

ProfoundBio focuses on developing next-generation large-molecule targeted drugs, with a product pipeline primarily comprising antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and other antibody-based therapeutic approaches.

PRO1184 is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting folate receptor α (FRα), using exatecan as payload and employing ProfoundBio's independently developed novel hydrophilic linker. The Phase I clinical trial will evaluate PRO1184's safety, activity, and pharmacokinetics in patients with ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and mesothelioma. This trial is actively recruiting patients at multiple clinical trial centers in the United States.

PRO1160 is a CD70-targeted ADC using the same payload and hydrophilic linker as PRO1184. Its Phase I clinical trial will evaluate PRO1160's safety, activity, and pharmacokinetics in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, metastatic or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Preclinical data demonstrates that PRO1160 has a broad therapeutic window and is expected to become a best-in-class ADC drug.

#06

Casimirs' Class I New Drug CS0159 Receives FDA Fast Track Designation

Recently, Casimirs announced that CS0159, a novel FXR agonist independently developed through the joint efforts of founder Huaqiang Xu's team at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Jia Li's team at the same institute, has received FDA Fast Track designation for the treatment of patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Casimirs specializes in original innovative R&D of drugs targeting nuclear receptors and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), focusing on unmet major clinical needs in metabolic and inflammatory diseases.

CS0159 is a novel potent non-steroidal farnesoid X receptor (FXR) small-molecule agonist obtained through crystal structure-assisted design. The project's innovation lies in fully utilizing protein structure-assisted design to identify sites that can enhance drug activity and reduce side effects, applying these insights to new drug molecular design. Systematic preclinical studies show that CS0159 has potent FXR agonist activity and liver-targeted distribution characteristics, significantly improving pathological conditions in NASH mouse models, with features of low effective dose, significant efficacy, and good tolerability. Approval of its clinical trials is expected to provide a safe and effective potential treatment option for NAFLD/NASH patients.

#07

XinYaohui Launches Complete Chiplet D2D Solution Supporting China's First Native Chiplet Technical Standard

Recently, at the second China Interconnect Technology and Industry Conference, the "Technical Requirements for Chiplet Interface Bus," the first group standard jointly led by relevant Chinese integrated circuit enterprises and experts, was formally approved and released by the China Electronics Standardization Association under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This is China's first native Chiplet technical standard, with domestic advanced semiconductor IP company XinYaohui participating as a key contributing enterprise in its formulation.

XinYaohui possesses a complete Chiplet D2D solution, including physical layer, controller, and packaging. Combined with differentiated needs, it provides full-process implementation services from IP design to tape-out, helping customers overcome Chiplet design challenges and empowering high-performance, high-density, high-computing-power large chip design.

In April 2022, XinYaohui joined the UCIe organization as one of its first members. In October 2022, XinYaohui undertook a national key R&D program project from the Ministry of Science and Technology, joining the national team to promote the industrialization of the domestic Chiplet standard CCITA, comprehensively empowering China's semiconductor industry.

Dec

Horizons

#01

Hyperparameter AI Exploration Teaching 1,000 AIs to Dominate the "World"

#02

Geekplus First to Deploy Pharmaceutical Industry Robot Cluster Project Helping Renhetang Increase Picking Efficiency by 80%

Dec

Recognition

At the end of 2022, Gaorong Ventures received multiple industry honors.

Additionally, Gaorong Ventures founding partner Chang Chen was ranked in the top 5 of Forbes China's 2022 Venture Capitalists list. Gaorong Ventures founding partners Gao Xiang and Yue Bin, along with partner Rui Han, were named to Forbes China's 2022 Venture Capitalists TOP 100. Chang Chen, Yue Bin, and Rui Han were respectively recognized as TOP 20 investors in 36Kr's China Healthcare & Life Sciences, Semiconductors & Integrated Circuits, and Consumer & Creative Economy categories. Yue Bin was also named to Jazzyear's 2022 Best Tech Investors TOP 50. Gaorong Ventures director Yuan Feng was listed in PEDaily's 2022 F40 China Young Investors.