Source Code Capital was named one of "China's Top 10 AI Investment Firms."

On June 28, 36Kr released its ranking of China's top 10 AI investment institutions at the "Wisdom·Transformation·Achievement — 2017 Business New Ecology Summit."

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Selection Methodology

Every fundamental technological breakthrough becomes a catalyst for industry transformation — innovation attracts capital, capital drives further technological development and deep industry application, ultimately reshaping sectors across the board. With the rapid advancement of deep learning and AlphaGo igniting a wave of man-versus-machine matches, AI's rise has been dubbed the fourth industrial revolution. Looking back at 2016, AI truly became the focal point for investors and the world at large, with over 4,000 financing events throughout the year. China emerged as the second-largest market for AI funding, trailing only the United States.

According to data from 36Kr Research Institute and VC SaaS, there are 709 AI companies in China. 36Kr analyzed 349 funded startups, sent research invitations to 74 investment institutions, and — by cross-referencing database and survey data across dimensions including number of investments, capital deployed, level of participation (lead vs. follow-on), and investment judgment (portfolio valuations and follow-on round rates) — selected the top 10 AI investment institutions in China. (Note: transparency and credibility of information served as a preliminary screening criterion for portfolio companies in this evaluation.)

Scope of Evaluation:

Given varying definitions of what constitutes an AI company, 36Kr adopted a framework spanning foundational technology and end products, encompassing both underlying technology startups and application-scenario companies.

Behind these 349 startups stood 112 investment institutions; 36Kr invited the 74 most active among them to participate in the evaluation. Based on the dimensions outlined above, we identified the 10 most active, focused, and discerning investors in the AI space.

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Top 10 Ranking

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AI Investment and Financing Data

China's AI sector raised approximately $2.6 billion, roughly 1/7 of total U.S. AI funding, ranking second globally — well ahead of Israel and India. Multiple investors have identified AI as the next major opportunity following mobile internet.

Unit (count)

Data source: VC SaaS

Unit ($100 million)

Data source: 36Kr VC SaaS

Domestic AI investment momentum continued to build, with Q4 2016 recording 173 investment events — the most active quarter in five years.

81.4% of funded companies were at early stages (Series A or earlier). Notably, nearly 5% were acquired. This indicates the AI industry remains in its infancy, with most firms still exploring potential applications and commercialization scenarios. From an exit perspective, a significant number of listed companies are tracking core AI technologies; even where relatively mature commercial applications have yet to emerge, substantial M&A opportunities exist in the AI space.

Among the 349 companies included in this evaluation, the largest concentrations are currently at angel and Series A stages. This confirms that across the industry, most AI companies remain pre-Series A.

Data source: Research materials

By project count, among the 349 funded companies in this evaluation, machine learning, robotics, intelligent transportation, and computer vision ranked as the top four segments. Machine learning and computer vision were the two largest sub-sectors among underlying technology companies; among application scenarios, intelligent transportation led by a wide margin, while robotics companies accounted for a relatively high share of investments. By total capital deployed, intelligent security, intelligent finance, and smart home emerged as the three largest categories.

Note: Ranked by project count

Data source: Survey materials

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