Linear Capital-led angel round project "Zion" closes HSG Pre-A funding, with existing backer Linear Capital doubling down

Zion focuses primarily on connecting and integrating companies' internal and external systems, partnering with software service providers to help enterprises achieve BC-integrated digital transformation.

By Yutong Wang | Cover image from Visual China

36Kr has learned that no-code cloud IDE Zion recently completed a multi-million-dollar Pre-A funding round, with HSG as the lead investor. All existing investors — Linear Capital and MiraclePlus — also participated. The proceeds will be used mainly for product R&D and market expansion.

Zion provides users with pre-packaged software engineering capabilities. Its frontend is a WYSIWYG editor built on the React framework, allowing users to freely design interfaces, interactions, and data models through industry-standard interactions familiar to designers and product managers from Sketch and Modao. In use, Zion abstracts technical details — such as databases, APIs, servers, and local caching — into intuitive operations, enabling users to bypass technical minutiae and focus solely on core product design.

Zion's core technology is automated code generation (codegen), applied on the client side to enable dynamic real-time preview generation and static high-performance production environment generation; it can also be used server-side. Cloud-native and multi-cloud deployment is another advantage, delivering a unified cloud-edge-device experience. Other key features include dynamic data storage and updates, automated operations and release pipelines, and cross-functional multi-user collaboration.

Overseas, the no-code "Big Three" — AWZ (Airtable, Webflow, Zapier) — are gradually becoming enterprises' preferred digital infrastructure and next-generation application development stack: the AWZ stack. Behind this trend, Zion believes, is that AWZ respectively represents three stages of enterprise digital demands:

Stage one, represented by Airtable, uses forms as the core interaction interface, enabling multiple users to collaboratively edit and maintain data. In the early phase of digitalization, when enterprises lack digital foundations, the priority is datafication — data accumulation — building internal systems through no-code methods to achieve early-stage digitalization. Domestic equivalents include Vika and Lark Base.

Stage two, represented by Zapier, centers on data connectivity and visual workflow orchestration, working with the data layer from stage one or existing SaaS services to rapidly build lightweight internal enterprise applications. This demand arises because enterprises discover that data accumulation alone is insufficient; they need orchestration and integration of business logic and external systems. Domestic equivalents include Jiandaoyun, Mingdaoyun, and DingTalk's Yida.

Stage three, represented by Webflow, rapidly builds flexible frontend interactive applications on existing digital infrastructure, linking internal enterprise systems with external-facing products for use by internal and external operators alike. The domestic product in this category is Zion.

Webflow is a no-code website development platform founded in 2012. In March 2022, it announced a $120 million Series C at a $4 billion valuation. It currently employs over 400 people, with annual recurring revenue (ARR) approaching $100 million and more than 150,000 customers, including Dell, Mural, PwC, Zendesk, NCR, and TED.

Currently, Zion focuses primarily on connecting and integrating companies' internal and external systems, partnering with software service providers to help enterprises achieve BC-integrated digital transformation. Founder and CEO Jiheng Lu gave 36Kr an example: a client co-served with Mingdaoyun uses Mingdaoyun for factory internal management, but recently needed to connect external distributors' purchasing behavior with internal management. The client used Zion to build a mini-program managing distributor purchasing, reservations, and other behaviors, while integrating with internal inventory, order, and production information.

Zion currently has two core business models. The first is direct service to brand clients, such as early-stage startups with some digital tools but limited engineering resources, who can rapidly build mini-program and website products through Zion. The second is partnerships with software integrators and service providers — such as Mingdaoyun — to jointly serve mid-to-large brand clients, rapidly building software platforms on top of their existing infrastructure.

Earlier this year, Zion officially launched commercialization. Contract values range from several thousand to tens of thousands of RMB, depending mainly on version and features. It currently serves over 100 key account clients and over 10,000 service providers and startups, with representative clients including Coca-Cola, Oppo, China Merchants Bank, and Xibei.

Zion has recently launched web support, enabling rapid building of various desktop and mobile web applications, including customized SaaS, marketing landing pages, showcase websites, and personalized communities/blogs, supporting multiple service scenarios. It is currently serving several overseas SaaS companies, providing them with PLG kits — customized website + blog + community suites with deep SEO optimization for overseas markets.