Gaorong, Wuyuan, Matrix Partners, and Lisi Successively Raise Funds: The Wind Direction in the Primary Market Has Changed!

Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, October 4 (Reporter Yu Shiqi) New developments have recently emerged on the fundraising side of the primary market.

A reporter from Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noted that Gaorong Capital, Wuyuan Capital, Matrix Partners China, and Lisi Capital have sequentially advanced or completed new fund offerings, with new funds at the billion-yuan level reappearing.

More noteworthy than the fundraising scale is the change in the Limited Partners (LPs) entering these funds: Capital from traditional industrial sectors such as mining, chemicals, agriculture and animal husbandry, and consumer goods is appearing more frequently on the investor lists of tech investment institutions.

On one hand, industrial capital, which had been relatively cautious in the past, is moving closer to investment; on the other hand, General Partners (GPs) that have established recognition in tech investment are continuously securing funding. Behind this new round of fundraising, both the investors and the flow of capital in the primary market are undergoing changes.

In terms of total volume, fundraising in the primary market has already shown signs of recovery this year.

Data from Cailianshe Venture Connect – Zhizhong shows that in the first half of 2026, 3,981 new funds were raised, with a total fundraising scale of RMB 1049.464 billion, representing year-on-year increases of 95.8% and 49.6%, respectively. Government investment funds, state-owned capital, insurance capital, and financial asset investment companies were particularly active investors.

State-owned capital has become an important support for fundraising in the primary market, a clear market trend over the past few years. By comparison, the recent activity of industrial capital in market-oriented funds is even more worthy of attention.

This change is already reflected in the LP lists of several recent funds.

Gaorong’s Tianjin Gaorong Changying Fund has completed its fundraising, with a total committed capital of RMB 3.261 billion. Among them, Junzheng Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary collectively committed RMB 1 billion, accounting for more than 30% of the fund’s total committed capital; Muyuan Industrial committed RMB 350 million, investment entities related to Zijin Mining committed RMB 300 million, Jiahua Energy committed RMB 200 million, and Newland Digital Technology committed RMB 100 million. Capital from different industries such as chemicals, agriculture and animal husbandry, and mining simultaneously entered the same market-oriented fund.

In Wuyuan’s new fund, Hanxing Venture Capital, part of the Xiaomi ecosystem, invested RMB 100 million, while investment platforms related to Liu Qiangdong and entities related to TAL Education Group also entered the LP list.

Behind several of Lisi’s funds this year, industrial capital from Zhihu, By-Health, Century Huatong, Andon Health, Yanghe, and Shagang Group has successively appeared. Notably, Zhihu plans to invest RMB 1.5 billion to subscribe to the Lisi Xingshen Fund. The target committed capital for Matrix Partners’ Chuangyi Future Fund and its parallel investment vehicles totals RMB 7 billion, with RMB 3.72123 billion currently committed. SF Express, East Money, and Vipshop also appear on its LP list.

From Junzheng, Muyuan, and Zijin to Yanghe, Shagang, By-Health, and SF Express, many of the funds behind tech funds in this round come from traditional industrial sectors such as mining, chemicals, agriculture and animal husbandry, and consumer goods. In the past, such capital was not among the most active LPs in tech funds.

An institutional professional who raises funds from family offices of industrialists told the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter that such capital is usually quite cautious about external investments. “Money made from industrial operations is not easy to come by.” Even if book cash is relatively ample and cash flow is relatively stable, the requirements for capital safety and return certainty remain very high. Especially when facing tech investments, where technological routes change rapidly, project valuations fluctuate significantly, and exit cycles are long, participation from many industrialist family offices was not high in the past.

However, over the past year, this attitude has begun to change.

The aforementioned professional clearly feels that family offices of industrialists are increasing their attention to AI, semiconductors, and next-generation hard tech projects. Some capital that rarely proactively looked at tech funds in the past has also started to understand relevant projects and GPs more frequently.

Reflected on the fundraising side, a combination that was uncommon in the past is emerging: Capital from traditional industries is beginning to enter the LP lists of a batch of frontier tech GPs.

And the capital ultimately chosen is concentrated in a group of market-oriented GPs that have formed strong recognition in this round of tech investment. Lisi invested in Moonshot AI and MetaX; Gaorong and Wuyuan continue to cover large language models and intelligent driving.

For industrial players, the logic for investing has also shifted. Zhihu stated directly in its announcement that it hopes to broaden its investment channels in AI enterprises through the fund, deepen its technical understanding, and explore business synergies. This provides a more direct signal: for some industrial players, investing in funds is not just a financial allocation, but also a way to access new tech projects and industrial networks through leading tech GPs.

However, paying attention to tech does not mean that such capital has lowered its requirements for GPs.

The aforementioned institutional professional, who has long raised funds from family offices of industrialists, told the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter that such LPs are particularly sensitive to managers' historical returns. Among the investors they contact, those who make it to the final screening range are usually GPs with top-tier performance in the market, with some capital even narrowing the scope to the top 5% of the market.

Fund exit performance has therefore been placed in a more prominent position.

Through exchanges with multiple primary market professionals, the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter learned that after the exit cycle lengthened over the past few years, DPI (Distributed to Paid-In Capital) has been discussed more frequently in new fund fundraising. In the due diligence for the new round of funds, some industrial LPs specifically inquire about the exit status of the previous fund or even earlier funds, including which projects have completed exits and how much revenue has formed actual distributions. Compared to simply looking at book valuations, realized returns carry a significantly high weight in new investment decisions.

Looking backward at DPI, looking forward is about projects.

An institution contacted by the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter is raising a new fund and has already secured an investment share in a leading semiconductor project, thereby accessing investment opportunities in another potential unicorn project. According to the institution, although this new fund is still a blind pool fund, it needs to provide potential LPs with clearer project information to improve fundraising success rates. The pure blind pool model is no longer viable in the current market.

This essentially constitutes the two ends of the current fundraising table: one end is how much money was truly returned in the past few years, and the other is what projects the next fund can secure. Only GPs who can answer both questions well can capture the capital in this warming cycle.

Beyond capital and investment institutions, changes in personnel are also becoming evident.

Recently, Lisi Capital publicly released recruitment information for investors, with recruitment directions including semiconductors, AI, hardware, and new materials. In the recruitment copy, “space for thinking, authority to make decisions, and resources for heavy betting” were placed in prominent positions, emphasizing the concentration of time and capital on a few companies worth long-term support. As of now, the related WeChat official account post has exceeded 20,000 views and 1,666 shares.

This recruitment notice quickly came into the view of some young investors.

A young investor with a background in hard tech told the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter that he has recently submitted his resume to Lisi. What attracted him was not only the platform's fund scale but also Cao Xi’s project judgment in this round of AI investment, as well as the institution’s relatively flat organizational structure.

In the talent flow in the primary market this year, similar choices are increasing. A headhunter mentioned to the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter that since the beginning of this year, young investors in fields such as AI, robotics, and semiconductors have received significantly more attention. Some investors who originally focused more on research and execution are now participating in project sourcing and industry judgment earlier, with some experiencing accelerated promotions.

Public personnel changes also provide corroborating evidence. Liu Zhou, Founding Partner and Chairman of Dacheng Caizhi, mentioned earlier this year that over the past two to three years, Dacheng has invested in more than 50 enterprises in the artificial intelligence field, many of which were discovered by young investors who had graduated only a few years ago. Currently, a group of post-90s investment managers under the age of 35 in the team have delivered investment performance, and post-95s are also emerging. Promotion information from Sequoia China and Yunqi Capital this year also features post-90s individuals.

This round of the technology cycle has also provided a new window for young investors in the early stages of their careers.

From large language models and computing power to robotics and AI hardware, new technological routes and companies are emerging densely, with many investment judgments still in formation. For young investors, if they can enter the industry earlier, access projects, and participate in investments, they can more easily form their own investment labels within their institutions.

Multiple headhunters mentioned to the Star Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporter that since the beginning of this year, some young investors are changing their focus when choosing platforms. Rather than simply looking at institutional brand and fund scale, they care more about several specific questions: Can the institution continuously secure AI and hard tech projects? Does it have sufficient capital to actually deploy? Can young investors enter the core links of projects? And is the decision-making chain short enough?

Lisi’s emphasis on “authority to make decisions” and “resources for heavy betting” in this recruitment precisely addresses these concerns.

Changes in capital and talent are forming a resonance. Industrial players are seeking investment institutions better suited to enter the new technology cycle, GPs are seeking people who can cover the next round of technological changes, and investors in the early stages of their careers hope to faster build their star project resumes in this round of industrial opportunities.

The adjustment in the primary market over the past few years has not ended, but new changes have already begun to appear.