Gaorong Monthly · December | Gaorong Ventures and Its Frontier Tech / Consumer / Healthcare / Enterprise Service Portfolio Companies Win Multiple Annual Awards

About Rongbao: Rongbao is a monthly digest that curates noteworthy news and insights from Gaorong Ventures and its portfolio companies. Each issue shares just ten items — covering not only major funding announcements and milestones, but also emerging trends, new innovations, and fresh perspectives. As Gaorong Ventures works toward its vision of "creating a better life through innovation," we believe every step forward unlocks infinite possibilities.

Recognition — Year-End Honors for Gaorong Ventures and Portfolio Companies

Recently, Gaorong Ventures received multiple industry awards. In Zero2IPO's 2021 LP rankings, Gaorong was named among the "Top 10 Most GP-Watched VC Firms in China." The firm also won the "Three-Year Golden Bull VC Excellence Award" from China Securities Journal's 5th China Equity Investment Golden Bull Awards, and was recognized in TMTpost's 2021 EDGE AWARDS as a "Top 10 Pioneer in Fundraising/Investment/Exit (VC)" and "Top 10 New Consumer Investment Firm."

Gaorong Ventures founding partner Chang Chen ranked in the top 5 of Forbes China's 2021 Midas List, while fellow founding partners Gao Xiang and Yue Bin, along with partner Rui Han, all made the Forbes China 100 list.

Several Gaorong portfolio companies were also honored, appearing in Sci-Tech Innovation Daily's 2021 China Sci-Tech Innovation Companies, Zero2IPO's 2021 VENTURE50, and 36Kr's 2021 Hardcore Tech and Rising Star company lists — recognition of their technological and innovative capabilities.

AI — Hyperparameter Raises $100M Series B to Build "Living AI"

Hyperparameter recently announced the completion of a $100 million Series B round, led by HSG with participation from existing investors 5Y Capital and Gaorong Ventures. The company has now reached unicorn valuation. Gaorong Ventures first invested in Hyperparameter's Series A in 2019 and has continued to back subsequent rounds.

Founded in early 2019, Hyperparameter is dedicated to transforming game content production through artificial intelligence, creating "living AI," and redefining the relationship between humans and AI.

Over its two-plus years of operation, the team has built deep connections with top game producers and product teams. Currently, Hyperparameter's AI bots peak at nearly one million concurrent online users daily, serving hundreds of millions of users across more than 50 countries. The bots have been operating stably for over a year in multiple hit products with tens of millions of daily active users. The company also recently achieved the industry's first large-scale commercial deployment in the 3D FPS genre, providing 400,000 AI bots for online service.

Hyperparameter is further unlocking the potential of AI bots — NLP-enabled bots that can give and receive commands from users, enabling new interaction paradigms; massive numbers of "AI actors" that form dynamic, living AI worlds through interactive behavior; and diverse AI bots that open up entirely new approaches to content production.

AI Drug Discovery — Unknown Completes Nearly $100M Series B to Advance AI × Biotech Strategy

Unknown, which focuses on gut microbiome AI-driven drug development, recently announced a new funding round, bringing its total Series B financing to nearly $100 million. This is understood to be one of the largest funding rounds in China's microbiome sector in recent times. Gaorong Ventures led Unknown's Series A in 2018 and has continued to increase its stake in subsequent rounds.

Founded in 2017, Unknown is currently a leading Chinese AI pharmaceutical company focused on gut microbiome therapeutics. The company aims to treat and alleviate diseases through microbial technology and bioinformatics, using live biotherapeutic products and microbial small-molecule modulators.

In June 2021, Unknown's fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) drug received FDA investigational new drug (IND) approval, entering clinical trials. According to publicly available FDA data, this was the first FMT drug approved in Asia. The company has also made significant progress on its domestic regulatory pathway, recently submitting a Pre-IND application to China's Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE).

Unknown currently has five self-developed first-in-class microecological drug pipelines and has established clinical collaborations with numerous renowned Chinese hospitals including Peking University Cancer Hospital, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University. Multiple clinical drug candidates have demonstrated significant efficacy.

New Drug R&D — Hangzhou Andao Pharma Raises $50M Series B for Kidney Disease and Cancer Drug Development

Hangzhou Andao Pharma announced the completion of a $50 million Series B round, co-led by Gaorong Ventures and Northern Light Venture Capital, with participation from Decheng Capital, Ancheng Capital, and Yifeng Capital.

Founded in 2014, Andao Pharma is a high-tech pharmaceutical company focused on new drug development for kidney diseases and cancer. Its lead program is AND017, a self-developed oral small-molecule compound for treating anemia caused by chronic kidney disease. The drug's mechanism of action was recognized by the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. AND017 received approval for Phase II clinical trials in both China and the US in 2021, and global multi-center patient enrollment is now underway.

Another pipeline drug, AND019, is a third-generation selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) with a novel chemical structure. AND019 uses the protein self-degradation mechanism to specifically degrade estrogen receptors and block ER signaling, thereby inhibiting breast cancer cell proliferation. It is being developed as a foundational drug for breast cancer hormone therapy. AND019 also received simultaneous clinical trial approval in China and the US in October. The company's pipeline additionally includes multiple preclinical small-molecule and large-molecule candidates.

Semiconductors — Power Chip Designer CoreChang Raises Over RMB 500M Series C

In December 2021, power chip design company CoreChang announced the completion of a Series C round exceeding RMB 500 million, led by CDH Investments with participation from BAIC Group Industry Investment, Gaorong Ventures, XinDongNeng Investment, CASSTAR, FAW Lihua, Walden International, Guiyang Venture Capital, Huaxu Fund, XinChao Group, Jiangning Economic Development Zone Fund, Huajin Capital, Yunhui Capital, Nanxi Capital, and others.

Founded in 2017, CoreChang's core technical team has accumulated extensive experience across the full chain from design to process, packaging, testing, and application. The company has three product lines — IGBT series, MOSFET series, and module series. Its module packaging production line supports both potting and molding capabilities.

Benefiting from rising downstream market demand, China's power semiconductor market continues to expand rapidly. Automotive represents the largest downstream application, with new energy serving as the primary growth driver. Going forward, CoreChang is mainly targeting three sectors — industrial control, variable-frequency home appliances, and new energy (including power generation, mobility, and energy storage).

Semiconductors — EDA Company Xinhuazhang Raises Pre-B+ Round to Accelerate Next-Generation EDA Innovation

On January 5, Xinhuazhang, a leading intelligent EDA (electronic design automation) software and systems company, announced the completion of a Pre-B+ round of several hundred million RMB, led by China Development Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund under the National Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund. In December 2020, Gaorong Ventures led Xinhuazhang's Series A round and has continued to participate in its A+ and Pre-B rounds.

This funding will increase product R&D investment, further solidify Xinhuazhang's leadership in domestic verification EDA, and accelerate the next phase of next-generation EDA research and technological innovation.

With top-tier technology, an elite talent team, and strong application deployment capabilities, Xinhuazhang has independently developed four verification EDA products in less than two years. Drawing on the team's three decades of deep industry experience and insights from serving top-tier clients, the company has built solutions with platform-based, intelligent, and cloud-native architectures — driving the industry toward openness and collaboration.

Insurtech — Zhanlue Data Completes Series C to Drive Smart Risk Control Transformation in Health Insurance

Recently, insurtech company Zhanlue Data announced the completion of a Series C round of nearly RMB 150 million, led by Legend Capital with participation from Shengjing Jiacheng, GF Qianhe, and Huazhi Capital. Gaorong Ventures first invested in Zhanlue Data's angel round in 2016 and participated in its Series A in 2017.

Zhanlue Data is a pioneer in applying "RPA+AI" to the health insurance and medical sectors. Through its one-stop intelligent risk control service platform powered by "RPA+AI," the company provides enterprise-grade big data risk control solutions for commercial insurance companies and regulatory bodies including medical insurance bureaus and audit departments.

Currently, Zhanlue Data uses "RPA+AI" technology to build platforms for health insurance intelligent claims processing, intelligent investigation, government medical insurance intelligent review, long-term care insurance intelligent management, big data anti-money laundering, and big data governance. The company provides full-process claims and risk control services for commercial insurers, reinsurers, and insurance brokers, while also offering intelligent risk control, fund management, intelligent auditing, data governance, and anti-money laundering services for medical insurance departments, audit institutions, and banks — supporting policy formulation and adjustment with data-driven insights.

New Brands — Chuanwazi Foods Raises Nearly RMB 300M Series A to Become China's Leading Fresh Sauce Brand

In December 2021, Chuanwazi Foods, which focuses on compound seasoning R&D and production, announced the completion of a nearly RMB 300 million Series A round, led by Gaorong Ventures with participation from Xiamen C&D and related institutions. Chuanwazi also unveiled a brand refresh, officially launching a new logo and the brand proposition "Seeking Freshness, Crafting the WA Era."

Founded in 2008, Chuanwazi Foods is a subsidiary of New Hope Group. Rooted in Sichuan culinary culture and deeply focused on Sichuan-style seasonings, the company has 13 flagship product series covering the full compound seasoning product line.

In recent years, Chuanwazi has provided personalized, intelligent, and professional flexible customization supply chain services to B-end restaurant enterprises, currently serving over 15,000 national restaurant chain brands. On the consumer side, Chuanwazi has focused on the more segmented sauce category within compound seasonings, establishing the "fresh sauce, ready to eat" product concept and pioneering the fresh sauce sub-category. During this year's Tmall 618 shopping festival, Chuanwazi's flagship store achieved cumulative transaction volume of nearly RMB 10 million, with over 400,000 bottles of chili sauce sold, ranking first in Tmall 618's chili sauce category by popularity, second in the overall seasoning category, and third in chili-based seasonings.

New E-Commerce — Chaowanzu Completes Series B to Build a Community for Young Collectors

Recently, Qiandao·Chaowanzu announced the completion of a Series B round, with Gaorong Ventures co-leading. The new capital will be used for user growth, team building, and industry expansion.

Founded in 2019, Chaowanzu is positioned as a trading platform and community for trend culture, integrating content discovery, community news, e-commerce retail, and secondary trading. In less than two years since launch, Chaowanzu has attracted millions of users with monthly transaction volume in the hundreds of millions of RMB, making it China's largest secondary trading platform and community for designer toys and collectibles. The CTS Toy Show hosted by Chaowanzu attracted over 20,000 collectors and more than 300 trend brands and studios.

Chaowanzu focuses on hobby-based merchandise and purchase decision content, aiming to serve as foundational platform infrastructure for the industry — providing fertile ground for upstream trend brands and IP.

Social Impact — Tsinghua's Chunfeng Fund Supports Professor Zhang Linqi's Team in Major COVID Drug Breakthrough

Recently, a research team led by Professor Zhang Linqi at Tsinghua University School of Medicine and the Tsinghua University Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research Center and Comprehensive AIDS Research Center — supported by Tsinghua University's "Chunfeng Fund" — achieved a major breakthrough in COVID drug development, with related results receiving emergency approval for market launch.

The monoclonal neutralizing antibody combination therapy for COVID-19 developed under Professor Zhang Linqi's leadership — amubarvimab/romlusevimab (previously known as BRII-196/BRII-198 combination therapy) — received emergency approval from China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for treating adults and adolescents (aged 12 and above, weighing at least 40kg) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who are at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19.

In March 2020, Gaorong Ventures donated to support the "Chunfeng Fund" to help Tsinghua University accelerate research on COVID-19 detection technologies, vaccines, and antibodies. This was the fund's first alumni donation.