China Digest: Qiming names managing partner; PhiGent raises $30m

Qiming Venture Partners has promoted Alex Zhou as a managing partner to spearhead investments in frontier technologies. Separately, autonomous driving solutions developer PhiGent Robotics has secured $30 million in a Series Pre-B funding round.

Qiming names Alex Zhou managing partner

Venture capital (VC) firm Qiming Venture Partners has promoted Alex Zhou as a managing partner to spearhead the firm’s investments in frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).

As Qiming’s fourth managing partner after Duan Kuang, Nisa Leung, and William Hu, Zhou first joined the firm in 2014 as a vice president and has since participated in or led deals in tech companies across the AI, robotics, semiconductors, new energy vehicles (NEVs), and software sectors.

Some of his notable investments include smartphone giant Xiaomi-backed consumer goods firm Roborock; robot maker UBTech; voice recognition unicorn Unisound; AI chip developer Biren Technology; and electric vehicle (EV) company ROX Motor.

He also invested in Baidu-backed robotruck startup DeepWay and Zhipu AI, one of China’s fastest-rising generative AI startups vying to rival the success of US counterparts like OpenAI and Anthropic.

The promotion of Zhou to the most senior position in the firm “demonstrates Qiming’s continued confidence in the future of technology innovation,” according to a company statement on Thursday.

“We are at the forefront of a new wave of technological revolution. This era will undoubtedly bring about many bold innovators who will shape the future,” said Zhou. “Together with all the managing partners and colleagues at Qiming, I am excited and fully committed to seizing the opportunities, embracing any potential challenges, exploring new possibilities, and building a better Qiming.”

Founded in 2006, Qiming manages 11 US dollar funds and seven RMB funds with $9.5 billion in capital raised. With a focus on early- and growth-stage firms in the technology, consumer, and healthcare sectors, Qiming has backed over 530 companies since its inception.

PhiGent Robotics closes $30m Series Pre-B round

Beijing-based PhiGent Robotics, which develops autonomous driving solutions centered around visual 3D understanding, has raised $30 million in a Series Pre-B funding round to fund its mass production.

Two multi-billion-yuan industry funds jointly led the Series Pre-B round. The two funds are both under the management of Beijing E-town International Investment & Development, a state capital investor in Beijing shortly known as E-Town Capital.

Existing shareholders including Horizon Robotics, a Chinese provider of intelligent driving tech to automakers like Volkswagen and BYD, continued to fund the new round.

Founded in August 2021, PhiGent offers autonomous driving solutions powered by visual 3D, which enables better perception of the environment by capturing depth information, aiding in object detection, accurate mapping, and facilitating better decision-making for safe navigation and obstacle avoidance.

In 2022, the startup closed its Series A round in three tranches, including a Series A+ round led by tech VC firm Xiang He Capital, alongside the appointment of Shan Yi, who previously held senior positions at US semiconductor giants AMD and Xilinx, as its new CEO.

The earlier two tranches include an eight-digit RMB investment co-led by the state-owned Shenzhen Capital Group and Houxue Capital in August 2021; and a $30-million Series A round led by INCE Capital.

Some of its early backers also include 5Y Capital, GSR Ventures China, and Atypical Ventures.

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