The China Round is a weekly report tracking venture and strategic investment activity across China’s core technology sectors: AI, robotics, semiconductors, new energy and materials, aerospace and defense, and frontier tech.
Where capital flows tells you where talent is concentrating, where production capacity is being built, and which technologies will reach commercial scale first.
The China Round is free, published every Friday, and written for investors, operators, and founders tracking where China’s tech capital is moving and why it matters.
About the author: Dermot McGrath is Irish, based in Shanghai, a decade in China’s tech and investment ecosystem, fluent Mandarin. Co-founded a VC fund scaled to nine-figure AUM. Now running ZenGen Labs, a cross-border strategy studio covering AI, robotics, and deep tech.
Where the Money Went
103 funding events across seven sectors. Over $1.4 billion (~¥10.1B) in disclosed capital, with the real total significantly higher given that 50+ deals went undisclosed. Alibaba led a ¥2 billion (~$293M) strategic round into video generation platform Shengshu (Vidu). Nova Fusion raised ¥700 million (~$97M) at angel+ stage for nuclear fusion, on top of a ¥500 million angel round last year. Jack Ma and Lei Jun made their first known co-investment in Spirit AI, a humanoid robot company now valued at ¥15 billion (~$2.1B).
Chart note: Light-shaded bars represent conservative estimates where only a vague range (e.g., “数亿人民币” / “hundreds of millions”) was reported.
🤖 Robotics (16 deals)
Fewer deals than last week’s 27, but the individual rounds run larger. Spirit AI (千寻智能) pulled in ¥1 billion (~$139M) for an A+ round, part of two rounds totalling ¥3 billion (~$417M) within 30 days. ENGINEAI (众擎机器人) closed $200 million (~¥1.44B) with Luxshare as strategic co-lead. D-Robotics (地瓜机器人) raised $150 million (~¥1.08B) for its robot OS platform, a Horizon Robotics spinout building the infrastructure layer for humanoid development. The early-stage pipeline remains active: five angel/seed rounds, including a Li Auto AI team spinout (斜跃智能) founded just two months ago.
🧠 AI (17 deals)
Alibaba led a ¥2 billion (~$293 million) strategic round into Shengshu Technology (生数科技), maker of the Vidu video generation platform. That single deal accounts for most of the sector’s disclosed capital. The distribution otherwise skews early: Synapx (章鱼动力), founded December 2025 by four ex-Horizon Robotics executives, raised hundreds of millions at a ¥3 billion (~$417M) angel valuation for “physical AGI.” Red Bear AI (红熊AI) closed Series A with ¥135 million (~$19M) in revenue and 13% margins, one of the few profitable Chinese AI agent companies at this stage. ModelBest (面壁智能) hit E-round unicorn status for edge-side foundation models.
🔬 Semiconductors (14 deals)
Deals span analog and mixed-signal IC, MEMS sensors, power semiconductors, and storage chips. Most rounds are Series A or earlier with government guidance fund participation, consistent with the ongoing self-sufficiency push. Lingdong Jiaxin (灵动佳芯) closed an A round backed by SMIC Capital (中芯聚源) and others.
⚡ New Energy & Materials (19 deals)
Zhide Battery (致德新能源) raised ¥600 million (~$83M) at Series E for silicon-carbon anode materials, with CATL as an existing investor. JNION (珈钠能源) appeared for the second consecutive week, raising an A+ round for sodium-ion cathode materials with EVE Energy (亿纬锂能) backing. New materials companies (安迈特科技 with Toray strategic, 环西汀新材, 方硕材料, 启烯材料) accounted for roughly a third of the sub-sector.
🚀 Aerospace & Defense (5 deals)
Spacety (天仪研究院) raised ¥1.3 billion (~$181M) in a pre-IPO round for its 28-satellite SAR constellation, the sub-sector’s standout. Dezhihangchuang (德知航创) closed an A+ round with Sichuan provincial defense-industry funds. Huanyuhaoxing (寰宇昊行) and Gongda Satellite (工大卫星) filled out a quiet but steady week for space and defense.
⚙️ Other Adv. Manufacturing (22 deals)
Optoelectronics and photonics accounted for roughly ten deals, including Aochuang Photonics (奥创光子) at Series D and Saifulesi (赛富乐斯) raising ¥300 million (~$42M) for micro-LED. Three deals covered the lithium niobate photonics value chain from substrate to chip design. The remainder spans industrial automation, precision control, smart manufacturing equipment, and a tail of companies where names alone do not reveal the sub-sector.
💡 Frontier Tech (10 deals)
Ten deals, with capital concentrated in a few large rounds. Nova Fusion (诺瓦聚变) leads the category with a ¥700 million (~$97M) angel+ round for FRC nuclear fusion targeting AI data center power. Four to five brain-computer interface deals (应和脑科学, 聚芯医疗, 脑次元, 曦嘉医疗, 瓦博科技) landed in the same week, following BCI’s first appearance in the Government Work Report. Juxin Medical (聚芯医疗) closed a ¥200 million (~$28M) C round for endovascular BCI.
Spotlight
Spirit AI (千寻智能)
A+ Round, ¥1 billion (~$139M), valuation ¥15 billion (~$2.1B)
Full-stack humanoid robotics.