Taking Gems From Fire — Linear Capital's 2024 Year in Review

2024 is coming to a close. I'd like to borrow the theme from our annual meeting in October to summarize this year: "Taking Gems From Fire" — pulling chestnuts from the fire — a fitting description of Linear Capital's work this year.

This year, the opportunities and challenges in early-stage investing were greater than in years past. On one hand, in the generative AI space, underlying technology continued to advance. Whether through technical breakthroughs in models or the constant emergence of new applications, our confidence that generative AI will transform every industry only grew. Accordingly, we established Bolt, a dedicated AI application investment initiative. We intensified our industry observation and community sharing efforts, and by year-end had invested in 8 early-stage AI application projects. Beyond AI software applications, we also made numerous investments in hard tech innovation, particularly embodied intelligence and robotics, as well as frontier technology exploration in life sciences, new materials, and new energy — all powered by accelerated computing. By year-end, Linear Capital had invested in 17 projects total. I'll elaborate on these below.

The challenges were equally visible. Linear Capital made several adjustments in response to changing conditions and timing. Beyond establishing Bolt, we sent our team to Silicon Valley and Europe for exchanges, and in the summer tentatively opened a Linear Capital office in Europe. This was a step forward in our investment preferences. For us, we want to find founders who are both willing and able to leverage frontier technology, who understand how to use China's talent and supply chain advantages, and who have their sights set on global markets. To achieve this goal, we knew we needed to be more proactive about going out into the world. Let me walk through Linear Capital's year in chronological order.

In January, Linear Capital made a solo angel investment in perovskite photovoltaic company Yongjia Solar. Additionally, Aoxi Technology, a digital microfluidics technology platform and Linear Capital angel-round lead project, completed a nearly 100 million RMB Series A, with Linear Capital doubling down as an existing shareholder. In February, Linear Capital portfolio companies Horizon Robotics, Tenfeng Technology, Hongjing Drive, and Lijie Technology were selected for Zero2IPO's Venture50 list, while Bangtang Technology, Rokid, and Whale made the first Forbes China Global 30 & 30.

To help more people understand our technical founders and what they're building, we launched an interview series on Linear Capital's WeChat official account, telling stories of frontier technology innovation. In February and March, interviews included portfolio company Yinghua Chenrui, which uses unique modification techniques and processing to solve bottlenecks in the biomaterials industry, and Dishi Medical, which uses high-precision ophthalmic surgical robots to address pain points in retinal and microsurgery. We welcome you to read them.

In March, we began hearing good news about follow-on rounds for several invested projects. Xinkong Intelligent, a Linear Capital angel-round lead project, announced a nearly 100 million RMB Series B. Yuansuan Technology, another Linear Capital angel-round lead, completed a several-hundred-million RMB Series C1. Yiru Bio, also a Linear Capital angel-round lead, raised tens of millions of RMB in a Pre-A round, with Linear Capital continuing to support as an existing shareholder.

In April, I went to Silicon Valley to meet with old friends and new AI application investments — the Bolt initiative, later announced, had already been established internally and was investing at a rapid pace. The investment team also made this year's first trip to Europe, with intensive event preparation: we were in Zurich, Aachen, Delft, Leuven, and Eindhoven, connecting with local students and entrepreneurs.

In May, the Bolt team invested heavily in content and community activities. Beyond sharing observations and ideas about the AI industry, we actively organized community events. For example, we co-hosted an "AI/SaaS Global Expansion Sharing Session" with the SaaS global expansion community Linkloud. We held a "Go with the Beer Flow" balcony barbecue at our office, inviting friends interested in AI to discuss new opportunities in AI applications. Linear Capital has always hoped to build a platform where more entrepreneurs can exchange ideas and create more connections.

Image | Linear Capital themed event

In June, we officially launched Bolt, our AI investment initiative — "The First Echo for AI Entrepreneurs." Bolt is Linear Capital's AI investment project, specifically established for early-stage, globally-oriented AI applications. It continues Linear Capital's investment philosophy and principles, focusing on projects where technology-driven change is transformative, and hoping to help founders find the shortest path to achieving their goals. Compared with Linear Capital's focus on hard tech and the integration of frontier technology with industry, Bolt focuses on applications — investing in the builders of applications. At launch, Linear Capital had invested in 4 AI application projects: AI life-logging product "Xinguang," job-seeker AI tool "Final Round," English learning app "Cathoven," and "xbuddy." At the end of the month, I gave a speech at the 36Kr Waves conference titled "Where Are the Opportunities for Young People in the Coming Decade of AI." Even today, I think this remains a topic young people care deeply about. If you're interested, we welcome you to read the transcript.

As mentioned earlier, alongside AI software applications, we made numerous investments in hard tech innovation represented by robotics, as well as frontier technology exploration in life sciences, new materials, and new energy. Among these, in June and early July, Deep Principle, which uses AI to accelerate the discovery of efficient catalytic materials, announced a nearly $10 million seed round led by Linear Capital. Linear Capital led the angel round of Meiyou Technology, which uses AI technology to reduce the cost of enzymatic DNA synthesis. Linear Capital made a solo investment in Lvtan Synthesis, which is independently developing next-generation green aviation fuel technology.

In July and August, we made AI-themed events regular with the establishment of our "Today at Linear" brand event series, each time inviting 1-2 senior industry figures to discuss key issues related to generative AI. For example: How AI Startups Can Achieve Global Growth and Business Model Innovation, AI SaaS Global Expansion: SEO and AI-Native CMS Practices, August 4 Bolt AI Demo Day: Ten AI Projects in a Dazzling Showcase, and From Influencer Marketing to PLG Strategy: Unlocking New Ideas for AI Product Global Expansion. Beyond domestic activities, our investment team also went to Silicon Valley to exchange with local entrepreneurs. Perhaps more widely known, Linear Capital participated in an event that drew significant attention among young people — the AdventureX Hackathon. The Bolt team was on site, exchanging observations about AI with young people and sharing Bolt's investment philosophy, as well as the support Linear Capital is willing to offer young people.

Image | AdventureX group photo

Also worth noting: in August, Linear Capital Pre-Seed project Swiss-Mile announced a $22 million seed round, co-led by Bezos Expeditions and HSG. Swiss-Mile is a European team that started at ETH RSL Lab, founded in 2023. Their understanding and application of frontier technology, particularly their philosophy of leveraging China's talent and supply chain to develop global markets, aligns well with Linear Capital's investment principles. The two fundamentals we have always held are belief in frontier technology and belief in China's strength. This applies even to overseas teams.

In September, Linear Capital angel-round project Hongjing Drive completed a several-hundred-million RMB Series C1. Linear Capital led the Pre-A round of Bot Auto, a new player in autonomous driving. This month, Linear Capital reached its tenth anniversary. We summarized this decade with 10 questions. In the video, I said, The original intention in founding Linear Capital was to support the industrial application of frontier technology, to improve productivity, and to benefit everyone. From day one until now, this has never changed. My obsession with frontier technology — to this day, that has never changed either.

Video | Linear Capital's 10th anniversary

In October, Linear Capital held its USD investor annual meeting in Hangzhou. In my speech, I again mentioned the principles we have never changed. I was also deeply moved that on the same day, Horizon Robotics, a company we invested in at the angel round, listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. I said then that I have always believed an IPO is a new starting point for a technology company. Technology investment and technology entrepreneurship are long and arduous roads. Beyond congratulating Horizon Robotics on its remarkable achievement, Linear Capital especially hopes that Horizon Robotics's growth story can inspire and encourage more technology entrepreneurs — we believe Horizon Robotics has set an excellent example. A new generation of Chinese hard tech entrepreneurs will certainly bring the best technology products to the world, drive progress in many industries, and make this world a better place.

Video | Linear Capital 2024 USD investor annual meeting

As the year closed out, we continued to announce investments. Linear Capital made a solo investment in the million-dollar seed round of synthetic biology company NewPro. Community activities and industry sharing continued, and for the first time, we held a small Christmas party at our office. As always, we hope to make more friends and pass on some warmth and confidence to more people.

For 2025, we continue to believe in the major opportunities from AI's transformation of software applications and robotics, and its combination with other technology domains. We will continue to double down on these opportunities at an appropriate pace, and look forward to more exchanges and collaboration with pragmatic long-term optimists.

The road ahead is long, and the hardest times are not yet behind us. I hope everyone can grow stronger through the darkness, in their own way, and hold on until the market's dawn arrives.

About Linear Capital

Linear Capital is an early-stage investment institution focused on "frontier technology + industry," that is, frontier technology represented by data intelligence, digital new infrastructure, next-generation robotics technology, and new technological transformations in traditional domains (such as biomedicine, materials, energy, etc.), applied across vertical industries to substantially improve industrial efficiency, empower them to solve pain point problems, and complete industrial upgrading — achieving excess returns through substantial increases in industrial value. It currently manages ten funds with total assets under management of approximately $2 billion.

We primarily lead investments from angel to Series A stage, with investment amounts ranging from $1 million to $10 million (or RMB equivalent) per project. To date, we have made early-stage investments in over 120 entrepreneurial teams including Horizon Robotics, Kujiale, Sensors Data, Tezign, Rokid, Guanyuan Data, and Agile Robots. The combined valuation of Linear Capital's invested projects is approximately $20 billion.

In the near term, Linear Capital is working to become the best "Data Intelligence Technology Fund," and in the long term, to gradually build itself into the most influential "Frontier Technology Application Fund."