Light Always Finds Its Next Landing Point｜Z News

Z News is ZhenFund's news column.

As October draws to a close, we're looking back at the month's "highlight reel" — inviting you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and what's new at ZhenFund. Double espresso, served fresh.

ZhenFund angel project Heywhale Technology founder Yuxiang Zhou speaks at State Council economic symposium

On October 14, Premier Li Qiang chaired an economic symposium with experts and entrepreneurs. Yuxiang Zhou, founder of Heywhale Technology, attended as the sole representative from the industrial software sector, presenting frontline insights on digital transformation in manufacturing.

Facing a shifting external environment, many factories are pivoting from "scale-driven, low-cost competition" toward "flexible, customized production" — using digital tools to improve responsiveness and profitability. Chinese factories are gradually forging a digital path distinct from Europe and America's, replacing singular "cost-cutting" with "agile flexibility" as the underlying logic of industrial upgrading. Drawing on its industry expertise and AI capabilities, Heywhale Technology builds production management software and intelligent agent products that make traditional manufacturing more flexible and agile.

To date, Heywhale Technology has earned the trust of over 34,000 manufacturing enterprises and their supply chains, commanding 42.7% of China's cloud-based production management software market — ranking first. Read more

ZhenFund angel project DexForce Robotics greets dignitaries at Global Summit of Women with humanoid robot

On October 13–14, the Global Summit of Women was held in Beijing. Embodied intelligence company DexForce Robotics brought its humanoid robot, DexForce W1 Pro "Xiaowei," to the event.

At the summit, Xiaowei demonstrated the complete coffee-making process for attending dignitaries. The humanoid robot autonomously selects capsules and waits for the machine to finish extraction, operating the equipment with human-like dexterity throughout. Powered by DexForce's self-developed embodied intelligence algorithms, Xiaowei can understand verbal instructions and work continuously, reportedly making two to three hundred cups of coffee per day. The robot has already been deployed at coffee festivals and major shopping malls. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Momenta featured on CCTV again as intelligent driving representative

On October 16, the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference opened in Beijing. CCTV-1's "Morning News" program ran a special report on the conference, spotlighting latest advances in multi-scenario applications, technological innovation, and global collaboration in China's intelligent connected vehicle industry. Momenta, as a representative enterprise in intelligent driving, received prominent coverage.

The report noted that Momenta's intelligent assisted driving system has been adopted by over 160 domestic smart vehicle models. More notably, BMW, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz have successively partnered with Momenta to jointly develop new intelligent assisted driving solutions. In an interview, Momenta CEO Xudong Cao said that more multinational automakers are bullish on collaboration with China. "This mainly stems from China's complete industrial ecosystem and policy support, which provide a solid foundation for tech companies like ours to innovate. Currently, China leads overseas markets by roughly three years in intelligent connected electric vehicles, particularly in intelligence and urban NOA [Navigate on Autopilot] development."

China's intelligent connected vehicle industry has already achieved technological innovation across multiple segments of the supply chain and various domains. The government will continue encouraging and supporting deeper Chinese-foreign cooperation in this field, integrating Chinese experience into global development. Going forward, sharing innovation成果 with the world has become an unstoppable trend. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Momenta wins "Global New Energy Vehicle Innovation Technology" at 2025 World New Energy Vehicle Congress for flywheel large model

On September 27, the 2025 World New Energy Vehicle Congress opened in Haikou. During the event, the congress's scientific committee announced the 2025 "Global New Energy Vehicle Frontier and Innovation Technologies" awards. Momenta stood out among numerous entrants with its full-scenario mass-production assisted driving solution (Mpilot), earning the "Global New Energy Vehicle Innovation Technology" honor.

The World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC) is a high-profile industry event approved by the State Council, co-hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology, the Hainan Provincial People's Government, and the Ministry of Science and Technology. As the highest-specification, most international, and most influential annual gathering in the new energy vehicle sector, WNEVC — now in its sixth edition — has become an important platform for promoting global automotive industry exchange and cooperation, supporting green and intelligent transformation, and addressing climate change. Among the competing enterprises, Momenta became, after tech giants such as Huawei and Tencent, another Chinese autonomous driving company to win this distinction. The honor represents high industry recognition of Momenta and reinforces its confidence in advancing large-scale autonomous driving deployment through its "one flywheel, two legs" strategy. Read more

Multiple ZhenFund portfolio companies exhibit at IROS 2025

From October 21–23, the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025) exhibition was held at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. This marked IROS's return to mainland China after nearly two decades. With "Frontiers of Human-Robot Collaboration" as its central theme, the conference drew approximately 3,500 experts and scholars from over 60 countries and regions, 4,400 students for exchange and learning, and 300+ enterprise representatives in the exhibition — setting a new IROS attendance record. ZhenFund angel projects Reconstructech and DexForce Robotics, along with early-stage projects Wuji Technology and Elephant Robotics, all participated.

ZhenFund early-stage project Jiasu Technology showcases ST2500 test system at "Moyu Space" AI summit

On September 20, Hangzhou's Yuhang District convened a conference on advancing the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, alongside the launch of "Moyu Space" as an AI highland. Liu Ying, member of the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee and Yuhang District Party Secretary, attended and addressed the meeting. District Mayor Yang Jiangen chaired and delivered welcome remarks. Representatives from municipal departments including the Municipal Talent Office and Development and Reform Commission, district leadership including Zhu Hongdan, principals of townships, platforms, relevant departments, and state-owned enterprises, as well as key local sci-tech platforms, enterprises, and talent representatives attended. Jiasu Technology was invited to showcase its ST2500 high-performance mixed-signal test system.

The ST2500 high-performance mixed-signal test system demonstrated Jiasu Technology's technical capabilities in semiconductor testing. Widely applicable to AI and other critical domains, the system provides essential testing保障 for chip R&D and industrialization, aligning closely with Moyu Space's goal of promoting deep AI-industry integration. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Sobot Technology appears at 2025 Apsara Conference, envisioning AI's future

From September 24–26, the 2025 Apsara Conference was held at Hangzhou's Yunqi Town. This year's theme was "Cloud Intelligence Integration, Carbon-Silicon Symbiosis," presenting a panoramic view of AI's technological evolution and industrial deployment — from infrastructure and large models to agents and embodied intelligence.

As one of the first domestic companies to implement large models in intelligent customer service scenarios, Sobot Technology continues deepening and optimizing the integration of "large models + intelligent customer service," committed to delivering genuinely intelligent customer contact experiences. Sobot Technology has built an AI customer contact center platform centered on "AI Agent (large model bot) + AI Copilot (intelligent assistance) + AI Insight (intelligent analytics)," comprehensively empowering customers, agents, and managers to improve service efficiency while truly achieving cost reduction and efficiency gains. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Artilux wins dual honors: national "Key Little Giant" and NextGen Tech 30

Recently, Artilux celebrated a milestone moment. With sustained innovation and excellence in photonic chips and intelligent sensing, the company secured two prestigious honors: national specialized and innovative "Key Little Giant" enterprise status, and inclusion in NextGen Tech 30, an authoritative Asian tech ranking. This not only demonstrates high recognition from the state and industry of Artilux's hard-tech capabilities, but also signals that Artilux has established a leading position in the global intelligent sensing race.

Bolstered by domestic and international accolades, Artilux enters a new phase of development. From this new starting point, the company will continue focusing on SPAD technology R&D, deepening cooperation with global partners, and providing high-performance sensing solutions for smart vehicles, smartphones, XR, robotics, and security applications — striving to become a key innovative force in global intelligent sensing. Read more

ZhenFund early-stage project Hesai Technology named to Fortune's "Change the World TOP 50"

On September 24, 2025, Fortune magazine released its "2025 Change the World" list. Among 50 global honorees, five Chinese companies made the cut through breakthrough innovation: Hesai Technology, as a lidar leader, joined Baidu, Alibaba, Yum China, and WeRide in representing Chinese strength on this authoritative ranking of global business influence. Other global selections included Costco, Deloitte, Mastercard, and Schneider Electric.

Fortune specifically noted that through independent innovation, Hesai Technology has not only successfully advanced lidar technology toward mass markets, but also transformed this once-prohibitively-expensive technology into a core force safeguarding global vehicle safety — protecting everyone's mobility.

To date, Hesai has secured mass-production design wins with over 120 vehicle models across 24 domestic and international automakers, with customers in more than 40 countries globally. Lidar is rapidly becoming a new global standard for road safety. Going forward, Hesai will continue collaborating with global customers, supporting high-quality development through advanced technology, accelerating mass production, and sustaining R&D innovation to contribute Chinese strength to global smart mobility. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Hynovation wins innovation technology award at international hydrogen summit HydrogenSphere

On September 25, Hynovation was invited to the HydrogenSphere international hydrogen summit in Paris, France. Hosted by the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association (IHFCA), the gathering brought together representatives from France's Directorate General for Energy and Climate (DGEC), China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the OECD, the IEA, and global hydrogen leaders including Faurecia, Daimler Truck, Bureau Veritas, MUFG Bank, and Hy24. The conference conducted in-depth discussions on hydrogen ecosystem construction, infrastructure deployment, and financial mechanism innovation. During the event, Hynovation participated in forums and was awarded the "Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Frontier Innovation Technology Prize" for its leading technological innovation capabilities. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Hynovation attends 2025 Hydrogen Sustainable Development Symposium by Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center

On September 23, 2025, the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held the 2025 Hydrogen Sustainable Development Symposium in Shanghai. Over twenty representatives from the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, National Green Development Fund, Tsinghua University, Environmental Defense Fund, and industry enterprises attended for exchange. Ding Hui, member of the center's Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, addressed the meeting. He noted that China has gradually become a leading country in renewable-energy hydrogen production and related industrial development, with the hydrogen industry accelerating transformation from "scale leadership" to "quality leadership." Going forward, strengthened international coordination and mutual recognition of standards in hydrogen are needed to jointly advance sustainable hydrogen development.

Hynovation noted in its remarks that over the past year, global energy transformation has intensified, with accelerated implementation of policies such as IMO shipping regulations and Europe's RED III, which will push hydrogen toward a commercialization inflection point. Meanwhile, China's hydrogen practices have gained broad industry recognition, and building global cooperation with China to advance green hydrogen deployment has become a post-practice consensus. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Cardinal Operations named to TMTPost 2025 Innovation Scenarios "Annual AI Application TOP List"

Recently, TMTPost released its 2025 Innovation Scenarios "Annual AI Application TOP List," focusing deeply on the real-world business value and industry impact of artificial intelligence, aiming to identify and recognize exemplary AI application cases. Cardinal Operations stood out among numerous entrants with its AI decision-making innovations and practical achievements in smart transportation, securing a place on the list.

Cardinal Operations built an intelligent model-driven decision system for new energy vehicle operations, helping clients optimize "people, vehicles, roads" full-chain resource allocation — pioneering a new paradigm for intelligent rail transit operations. The platform delivers integrated decision support, comprehensively solving scheduling and optimization challenges in complex operational scenarios, driving global coordination and dynamic linkage of people-vehicle-road resources, effectively improving enterprise operational management, and injecting new momentum into green transportation's intelligent development. Read more

ZhenFund early-stage project Hesai Technology supplies lidar for Changan Qiyuan Q07 Tianzhu Intelligent Laser Edition

On October 10, 2025, Changan Qiyuan Q07 Tianzhu Intelligent Laser Edition officially launched, with Hesai lidar standard across the lineup. Lidar is currently the most reliable safety redundancy solution. The Changan Qiyuan Q07 Tianzhu Intelligent Laser Edition is equipped with one Hesai lidar, three millimeter-wave radars, twelve ultrasonic radars, and eleven cameras, constructing a "panoramic monitoring" perception network for more powerful sensing capabilities. Read more

ZhenFund angel project Horizon Robotics powers Chery Exeed ET5, debuting full-scenario assisted driving

From October 18–21, the 2025 Chery Global Innovation Congress opened under the theme "Innovation · Intelligence Leading the World." A highlight of the congress was the global debut of the Exeed ET5, the first vehicle equipped with Horizon Robotics HSD and Journey 6P, which had its assisted driving features publicly demonstrated for the first time — comprehensively validating Horizon Robotics' technical maturity in urban assisted driving, while showcasing Exeed's leading position in premium intelligentization.

Meanwhile, Horizon Robotics founder and CEO Dr. Kai Yu was invited to the 2025 Chery Global Technology Innovation Kaiyang Forum, joining academicians, industry experts, and scholars to discuss the evolution and future development of mobility technology. At the forum, Dr. Yu shared strategic thinking and practical approaches on how Horizon Robotics is collaborating with industry partners to drive intelligent driving普及 at this inflection point. Read more

ZhenFund wins multiple honors at "2025 China Venture Capital Industry Annual Ranking · Golden Investment Awards"

On September 29, the China Venture Capital Research Institute released the "2025 China Venture Capital Industry Annual Ranking · Golden Investment Awards · Mid-Year List." Since pioneering industry rankings in 2005 — now twenty years running — this list has been widely regarded as a barometer and weather vane for China's venture capital industry, thanks to its quantitative, objective data standards and selection mechanism. This year, ZhenFund was named to both "2025 China's Top 25 Best AI and Big Data Investment Institutions" and "2025 China's Top 20 Best New Consumer Investment Institutions."

Text | Menmen

Editor | Cindy