Beyond the Cliff, Grass Yet Untrodden | Z News

Z News is ZhenFund's news column.

As June draws to a close, we're looking back at the month's "highlight moments" and inviting you to witness the growth of our portfolio companies and the latest happenings at ZhenFund. Double espresso — here's what's worth sharing.

ZhenFund angel portfolio company PurewayBio® invited to inaugural SXSW London festival

On June 4, PurewayBio was invited to an official conference forum co-curated by SXSW London and the British Fashion Council. Under the theme "Growing the Next-Generation Materials with Mycelium," the team shared their thinking and practice around a sustainable future, and introduced Gano™ — an innovative material developed independently by the team. Gano™ is a new leather-like material "grown" using the natural growth structure of fungal mycelium combined with advanced bioengineering processes, offering more creative solutions for sustainability across fashion, home furnishings, automotive, and other industries. Read more

ZhenFund angel portfolio company Xellar Biosystems partners with Pfizer to launch next-generation AI image decision engine

Recently, Xellar Biosystems — a global innovator in next-generation AI-driven organ-on-chip platforms — and international pharmaceutical giant Pfizer jointly announced a major scientific achievement: an AI deep-learning pathological image auto-recognition system co-developed by both parties, which successfully achieved precise identification and automatic quantification of pancreatic tissue structures. This marks non-clinical toxicity assessment's transition from experience-dependent to data-driven approaches, and lays important groundwork for large-scale AI application in human-derived models. The platform can be widely applied to drug toxicity modeling, pathological mechanism analysis, target-organ early response interpretation, and other critical steps, providing a higher-resolution "image decision engine" for the non-clinical stage.

This research was recently published in the international authoritative journal Toxicologic Pathology, becoming a key milestone in Xellar's push toward an "AI-driven digital toxicology" strategy. Read more

Han Xue, Member of Chaoyang District Committee and Head of United Front Work Department, visits ZhenFund angel portfolio company Cardinal Operations

On May 20, Han Xue, Member of Beijing's Chaoyang District Committee and Head of the United Front Work Department, visited Cardinal Operations. She was accompanied by Yu Xiaojun, Deputy Director of the District United Front Work Department and Party Secretary and Executive Vice Chairman of the District Federation of Industry and Commerce; and Jiang Dan, Member of the Party Group and Vice Chairman of the District Federation of Industry and Commerce. Wang Xi, Vice Chairman of the Chaoyang District Federation of Industry and Commerce, CPPCC member, and Co-founder of Cardinal Operations, received the delegation and reported on the company's development.

Committee Member Han Xue spoke highly of Cardinal Operations' dual achievements in technological innovation and social responsibility. She noted that artificial intelligence is currently an important engine for cultivating and developing new quality productive forces. She expressed hope that the company would strengthen innovation, put down roots in Chaoyang, align with national policy direction, deeply explore development opportunities and prospects in its sub-sector, focus on cultivating composite talent; make greater contributions to fulfilling social responsibility and engaging in public welfare, actively offer policy recommendations, contribute ideas and effort to industry standardization, and lend wisdom and strength to economic and social development. Read more

Han Xue, Member of Chaoyang District Committee and Head of United Front Work Department, tours Cardinal Operations' office

ZhenFund angel portfolio company Yitu Technology attends Huawei Middle East & Central Asia 2025 Tech Carnival and Partner Conference

On May 19, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia 2025 Tech Carnival and Partner Conference opened in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. With the theme "Accelerating Towards the Intelligent World," the conference comprehensively showcased Huawei's innovative achievements in driving digital-intelligent transformation and green transition together with regional customers and partners. Yitu Technology was invited to attend, joining technical experts, partners, and government representatives from across the Middle East and Central Asia to discuss how AI technology can empower digital-intelligent transformation across all industries in the region. Read more

ZhenFund early-stage portfolio company Saphlux launches multiple quantum dot MLED products

Recently, Saphlux successively introduced quantum dot MLED products in custom wavelengths including yellow and green, breaking through the limitations of traditional red-blue-green chips and pushing the industry into a new era of tunable chip colors. Leveraging its globally exclusive Nanopore Quantum Dot (NPQD®) patented technology, Saphlux achieved in-situ integration of MLED chips with quantum dots, and was the first to successfully apply this technology to commercial production of quantum dot red-light chips. The technology has already been deployed at scale in quantum dot COB direct-view display products, covering thousands of square meters. Read more

ZhenFund early-stage portfolio company Hesai Technology partners with Leapmotor; 2026 Leapmotor C16 with Hesai lidar officially launched

On June 18, the 2026 Leapmotor C16 was officially launched, with 8 versions priced from RMB 151,800 to RMB 181,800. The champion 6-seater and new 5-seater configurations offer flexible options, with 6 versions equipped with Hesai lidar starting at RMB 161,800. Additionally, the 2026 Leapmotor C16 delivers breakthrough upgrades across 70+ product features in comfort, range, intelligence, and design.

Going forward, Hesai will continue to deepen its strategic partnership with Leapmotor, empowering Leapmotor's full vehicle lineup with leading perception capabilities that give family SUVs more powerful and comprehensive all-scenario mobility. Read more

ZhenFund angel portfolio company MenuSifu exhibits at 2025 NRA Show, North America's annual restaurant industry event

On May 20, the NRA Show — North America's annual restaurant industry event — concluded successfully at Chicago's McCormick Place. As one of the largest and most influential professional exhibitions in North America, this year's NRA Show gathered over 2,200 exhibitors, attracting numerous professional visitors, brand representatives, and media guests, with an electrifying atmosphere and unprecedented scale.

This year, MenuSifu not only brought its highest-caliber full product and platform showcase, but also made a stunning appearance across two major exhibition areas — the main hall and the lakeside hall — with an integrated, ecosystem-based, immersive exhibition concept. The two areas focused respectively on smart tea beverage solutions and smart full-service restaurant operations, comprehensively presenting system capabilities and product innovation. Read more

ZhenFund angel portfolio company ChromX wins ESTS-AATS Foundation Excellence Award with Guangzhou Medical University First Affiliated Hospital

At the 2025 European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) Annual Meeting, ChromX, together with Professor He Jianxing's team from Guangzhou Medical University First Affiliated Hospital (National Center for Respiratory Medicine), in collaboration with Director Li Qiang's team from Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Director Yang Shengli's team from Foshan First People's Hospital, was awarded the ESTS-AATS Foundation Excellence Award for their series of studies on lung cancer breath diagnosis.

This award is the sole prize jointly established by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS). This study stood out among numerous projects to become the only award-winning project in the three lung cancer sub-sessions (Pulmonary Neoplastic I/II/III) at this year's annual meeting. Read more

ZhenFund angel portfolio company EHang signs strategic cooperation MoU with Argentine state aircraft manufacturer FAdeA

EHang, a global leader in urban air mobility (UAM) technology, announced that during the 2025 Paris International Airshow, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fabrica Argentina de Aviones "Brigadier San Martín" (FAdeA), Argentina's national aerospace manufacturer. This marks a solid step in EHang's strategic expansion into the Latin American market, further demonstrating EHang's firm commitment to continued expansion in Latin America and globally.

This cooperation focuses on future airworthiness certification, localized production, and operational service system development for EHang's EH216-S pilotless electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft system in Argentina and the broader Latin American region. Read more

ZhenFund early-stage portfolio company Flexiv exhibits at IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

On May 19, the annual IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025) officially kicked off in Atlanta, USA. Flexiv was once again invited to exhibit, showcasing advanced adaptive robot teleoperation applications on-site and engaging in in-depth exchanges with guests, scholars, and attendees.

Additionally, at the Tech Talk forum held in the main exhibition hall on the 20th, Flexiv North America Business Manager Brianna Thalia Villalobos delivered a speech titled "How Adaptive Robots Are Shaping the Future," attracting numerous attendees to communicate and interact with her. Read more

ZhenFund angel portfolio company Salus Biotech exhibits at ESHG 2025 with high-throughput sequencing technology and multi-omics solutions

From May 24–27, the 2025 European Human Genetics Conference (ESHG 2025) concluded successfully in Milan, Italy. As Europe's largest and most influential human genetics event, ESHG 2025 was hosted by the European Society of Human Genetics.

At this prestigious event, Salus Biotech made a stunning appearance with its independently developed high-throughput sequencing technology and multi-omics solutions, engaging in lively discussions with top global scholars and industry leaders around the future development trends of precision medicine and technological innovation applications, jointly envisioning the promising future of precision medicine. Additionally, Salus Biotech showcased multiple breakthrough innovations to the global audience, contributing Chinese wisdom and Chinese strength to the development of global precision medicine. Read more

ZhenFund ranks #1 on 36Kr's "China Top 50 Early-Stage Investment Institutions"

On June 12, 36Kr officially released its 2025 "China Equity Investment Industry Investment Institutions" series of lists. ZhenFund was named to the "China Top 50 Early-Stage Investment Institutions" list, ranking first among all institutions on the list.

ZhenFund named to 36Kr's "China Top 10 Most Influential Early-Stage Investment Institutions"

On June 12, 36Kr officially released its 2025 "China Equity Investment Industry Investment Institutions" series of lists, with ZhenFund named to the "China Top 10 Most Influential Early-Stage Investment Institutions."

ZhenFund founding partner and CEO Anna Fang, and ZhenFund managing partner Yusen Dai, named to 36Kr's "China Top 100 Most Popular Investors Among Entrepreneurs"

On June 12, 36Kr released its 2025 "China Top 100 Most Popular Investors Among Entrepreneurs" list. Anna Fang, ZhenFund founding partner and CEO, and Yusen Dai, ZhenFund managing partner, were both named to the list.

Text | Neya

Editor | Cindy