Qiming News
Qiming Monthly Newsletter (May 2023)
05/06/2023
Qiming Updates
- Qiming raised RMB 6.5 billion for RMB Fund VII, bringing its total capital raised to US$9.5 billion across 18 funds, focusing on investments in early and growth stage enterprises in Technology and Consumer (T&C) and Healthcare sectors. RMB Fund VII drew strong participation from its existing investor base.
- Nisa Leung, Managing Partner and Duane Kuang, Founding Managing Partner, appeared on the 2023 Forbes Midas List, a prestigious list of world's best venture capitalists. Nisa has been on the List for the fifth consecutive year with her ranking jumping 20 spots to 41st in 2023. Duane has been featured on the Midas List for the fourth time, ranking 70th this year.
- Qiming and its portfolio companies won 20 recognitions in the 2022 ChinaVenture Awards. Qiming was also awarded as one of the top 10 "Best Venture Capital Firms in China". Kan Chen, Partner of Healthcare, was named as one of the Supernova Top 50 Investors, a new title for young and emerging VC investors in China.
- In collaboration with two portfolio companies Zhipu.AI and Unisound, Qiming's generative AI-themed online webinar attracted 100+ portfolio CEOs and executives. Partner Alex Zhou shared his insights on technology breakthroughs and paradigm shift in the AI 2.0 era.
- Duane Kuang reiterated the significance of the Chapter 18C regime and Hong Kong's critical role as a global listing venue in a dialogue with Christina Bao, Managing Director of HKEX, at the HKEX Future Tech Summit .
- In his keynote speech at the 7th Future Healthcare VB100 Summit, Managing Partner William Hu highlighted that China is playing an essential role in the global pharma value chain, benefiting from its R&D efficiency and cost advantages.
- Qiming ranked No.5 Most Successful Gazelle Investor in China and No.10 in Hurun Global Top 50 Gazelle Investor in 2023. Qiming has won nearly 30 "gazelle" portfolio companies including Qiniu Cloud, MechMind Robotics, Yunji Technology, Apollomics, Sceneray, Insilico Medicine, among others.
- Qiming ranked No.5 Most Active VC in Greater China on PitchBook's Q1 2023 global league table.
Portfolio Highlights
T&C
- Keystone, a leading hardware wallet developer, merged with smart contract wallet provider UniPass in a strategic move to create Account Labs, pioneering a world-class Web3 Account Abstraction solution.
- Hesai Technology partnered with CRATUS to develop autonomous warehouse solutions using Hesai’s groundbreaking safety-rated 3D LiDAR, the QT128. Hesai also became the first LiDAR company to obtain the ISO/SAE 21434 automotive cyber security management system certification issued by TÜV Rheinland. The company opened an office in Stuttgart, Germany as part of its operation expansion in the European market.
- Unisound released its self-developed large language model and a series of LLM-powered solutions.
- In collaboration with Modelbest, Zhihu will start the internal test of generative AI-powered ‘search aggregation’ feature to improve search efficiency and acclerate its LLM developement.
- At CIVC 2023 in Beijing, WeRide showcased its Robotaxi, performing autonomous driving in China's complex road conditions, including public roads, highways, tunnels and urban driving scenarios. WeRide also obtained the ISO/SAE 21434 certification, testifying its cybersecurity management system reaching international standards.
- Transwarp launched a series of products including: 1. Sophon LLMOps, a developer tool to improve training, listing and iteration of LLMs for various sectors; 2. Industry-first LLM for finance sector; 3. Big data analysis LLM SoLar; 4. Big data infrastructure platform TDH 9.3; 5. Distributed analytical database ArgoDB 5.0, among others.
- Deepway's smart new energy heavy trucks will start delivering fresh milk for Mengniu Dairy from August 2023 onwards as part of Mengniu's low-carbon "Green" transportation.
- MechMind Robotics showcased its self-developed industrial-grade 3D vision sensors at AUTOMATE, one of the largest and most professional robotics and automation technology exhibitions in North America.
- Bo Zhiyuan, founder and CEO of Qingflow, and Dong Yiming, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Sceneray, both Qiming healthcare portfolio companies, were featured on the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.
- Ubitech Robotics' humanoid robot Walker and Nuowei Tech's privacy protection computation platform won the Consumer Technology Innovation Award at BEYOND Awards 2023.
- Six entrepreneurs from Qiming's T&C and healthcare portfolio companies (Xellsmart, Hesai Technology, Cornerstone, Ubitech, DP Technology, Frontis) were awarded the "2023 Science and Technology Entrepreneurs" by 36Kr for their effort in bridging science to the commercial world.
Healthcare
- Qiming led LTZ Therapeutics announced its $10+ million Pre-A+ round to advance its technology platforms, pipeline and global operations. LTZ is developing its Innate Engager Platform for hematological malignancy and solid tumors.
- TriApex, an innovative CRO dedicated to providing disease-oriented one-stop solutions, completed Series C round financing. Qiming participated in its 2021 financing, raising RMB 1 billion.
- LanzaTech and Plastipak have jointly developed the world’s first PET resin made from captured carbon emissions, which reportedly retains the properties of virgin fossil PET while carrying a lower carbon footprint.
- Two Qiming portfolio companies, Zai Lab and Medilink reached a strategic partnership and exclusive global license agreement. Medilink granted Zai Lab global development and commercialization license of its YL212 program, a next-generation DLL3 Antibody-drug Conjugate (ADC).
- Roche has acquired the global rights to Zion Pharma’s lead program, ZN-A-1041, a blood-brain-barrier-penetrant with the potential to treat or prevent the onset of brain metastases in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
- Two Qiming portfolio companies DP Technology and Insilico Medicine inked a strategic partnership to enhance AI drug discovery capabilities. DP Technology also announced its partnership with Viva Biotech on the discovery of targeted RNA small molecule drugs based on AI4S, and with GRIT Biotechnology to accelerate cell therapy product R&D.
- Insilico Medcine's first generative AI-powered anti-tumour drug candidate received FDA IND approval to initiate clinical trials. The company also nominated a potentially best-in-class preclinical candidate ISM5939, targeting ENPP1 for cancer immunotherapy and the potential treatment of Hypophosphatasia (HPP).
- Asieris Pharmaceuticals has obtained the global exclusive rights of UroViu's portable disposable cystoscope patented technology.
- Antengene announces that its claudin 18.2 antibody drug conjugate (ADC) ATG-022 has been granted Orphan Drug Designations by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of gastric and pancreatic cancers. Its first-in-class anti-CD24 antibody ATG-031 received approval to initiate the Phase I Trial.
- ZenCore Biologics joined hands with NNIT to build a full-cycle digital solution for biopharma, improving its technology and operational efficiency.
- LaNova Medicines has entered an exclusive licence agreement with AstraZeneca for its LM-305, a pre-clinical stage ADC targeting GPRC5D. LaNova also announced a collaboration with LegoChem Biosciences on novel antibody conjugates research.
- Data published on The Lancet shows that CanSino Biologics' sequential enhanced COVID-19 mRNA vaccine offers solid safety and immunogenicity protections.
- Gan & Lee's insulin glargine injection has been approved in Bolivia for the treatment of diabetes. Its 3mL insulin glargine pre-filled pen has been approved for commercial use in India.
- Zach Weinberg, co-founder and CEO of Curie.Bio was named "20 Under 40 in Biopharma" by EndpointsNews.