Recently, a number of traders have acknowledged that they are going to now not make investments in startup initiatives led by professors.
On the opposite, information launched in the “2024 Shanghai Science and Technology Achievement Transformation White Paper” reveals that in 2024, 153 corporations had been based independently by Shanghai researchers, and the overall financing attracted by related enterprises exceeded 6.8 billion yuan. It’s not simply Shanghai researchers; a big quantity of corporations based by researchers throughout the nation are additionally accelerating their financing and creating steadily.
The funding enthusiasm has cooled down, however the transformation of scientific analysis achievements continues to thrive. Under such a contradictory state of affairs, what sort of pattern will startups led by professors current? Why are traders “backing off” from professor – led startups? What sort of scientific analysis transformation initiatives can achieve traders’ recognition and efficiently cross the “valley of death” in entrepreneurship?
The founding staff, the primary issue traders deal with
The worth of the saying “Investing is investing in people” continues to be growing.
The core purpose some traders state for not investing in professor – led startups is that the professors they invested in failed in entrepreneurship resulting from private elements: some professors wavered halfway by way of the startup course of and selected to return to universities to deal with educational analysis; some began companies half – time, concerning instructing as their primary occupation and being absent throughout essential durations of enterprise improvement resembling financing and negotiation, thus delaying the undertaking progress; some centered solely on technological innovation, ignoring the marketization logic and the precise industrial competitors, making it tough to satisfy the necessities for industrial implementation.
However, this isn’t an inherent downside of the professor or researcher group. In 2021, traders flocked to universities to “scout for professors” and inspired them to start out companies. Many initiatives had been established underneath passive promotion. In this case, the failure of startup initiatives is intently associated to the unique intention of “forced entrepreneurship.” Moreover, entrepreneurship is initially a excessive – threat enterprise with a really low success fee, and solely a really small quantity of enterprises can actually cross the “valley of death” in entrepreneurship.
Although many researchers have failed in entrepreneurship, there are nonetheless a big quantity of medical enterprises based by researchers in the market which have repeatedly accomplished financing and carried out outstandingly. According to incomplete statistics from Arterial Network, in 2025 alone, greater than a dozen medical enterprises based by Shanghai researchers (professors) accomplished financing: corporations resembling Atek, Boquan Biotech, Xueji Biotech, Boda Medical, Niantong Intelligence, and Tianjia Biotech all accomplished a brand new spherical of financing in 2025.
(Incomplete statistics from Arterial Network on startup initiatives of researchers who accomplished financing)
Similar to the frequent issues amongst professors who failed in entrepreneurship, the founders and core groups of these enterprises based by professors which have obtained financing additionally current distinct frequent traits.
First, founders with entrepreneurial expertise or expertise in scientific analysis achievement transformation usually tend to achieve traders’ recognition. For instance, Dr. Zhu Fangfang, the founder of Xueji Biotech, as soon as labored on the nicely – recognized enterprise capital establishment WI Harper Group, chargeable for investments in the medical and well being area. She not solely invested in many early – stage startup corporations but in addition was in cost of their submit – funding administration. Dr. Zhu Fangfang mentioned, “Through this window, I closely observed the success and failure of many startup companies and learned industrialization experience from them.”
In 2020, Dr. Zhu Fangfang was employed as an affiliate professor on the School of Biomedical Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and based Xueji Biotech in 2021. It is the third firm in the world and the primary in China in the sphere of platelet regeneration cell remedy, devoted to producing platelets by way of in vitro induction of stem cells, which can set off the second transfusion revolution.
Guided by Dr. Zhu Fangfang’s industrialization expertise, Xueji Biotech has laid out in a number of illnesses and fields resembling blood transfusion, oncology, platelet illnesses, sports activities medication, medical aesthetics, and anti – growing older. With foreseeable market alternatives, technological maturity, and future development efficiency, the financing of Xueji Biotech got here “naturally”: from 2021 to 2025, it accomplished 5 rounds of financing, backed by star funding establishments resembling Yuanhe Holdings, CMBC International, Northern Light Venture Capital, CDH Investments, and Sequoia China.
As of now, the New Drug Clinical Trial Application (IND) of Xueji Biotech’s “Megakaryocyte Injection” has been authorised by the China CDE and the US FDA, and its world first platelet – associated cell new drug XJ – MK – 002 and the worldwide first platelet injection cell new drug XJ – PLT – 001 have each been granted two orphan drug designations by the FDA. Among them, XJ – MK – 002 has accomplished the primary administration.
It’s not simply Dr. Zhu Fangfang. Dr. Yang Xiaobao, the founder of Biaoxin Biotech, and Dr. Xu Fei, the founder of Jikang Biotech, additionally had industrialization expertise earlier than beginning their companies. For instance, Dr. Yang Xiaobao gathered 5 years of marketization expertise at pharmaceutical corporations resembling GlaxoSmithKline Shanghai R & D Center and Shanghai Dongyue Pharmaceutical; Dr. Xu Fei participated in founding the GPCR macromolecule pharmaceutical firm Ruiyi Biotech in 2011.
Relying on the commercial expertise and useful resource accumulation of the founders over time, Biaoxin Biotech has repeatedly accomplished three rounds of financing; though Jikang Biotech has not obtained financing, it has reached a pre – scientific pipeline strategic cooperation settlement with the US listed firm BioAge: BioAge has obtained the unique choice to license Jikang Biotech’s novel APJ agonist antibody, and Jikang Biotech has acquired upfront funds and R & D funds, and is eligible for possibility train charges and additional improvement, regulatory, and gross sales milestone funds and royalty charges.
Industry analyst Zhang Yang mentioned, “Compared with scientific research entrepreneurs without industrial experience, these entrepreneurs have a deeper understanding of the market and commercialization and are more flexible in dealing with difficulties. This is also one of the important reasons why these founders are more recognized by investors.”
Second, a founding staff collectively fashioned by high scientists and senior business professionals is extra more likely to entice traders’ consideration. For instance, the core groups of enterprises resembling Boquan Biotech, Dage Biotech, Shaonao Technology, Kunyuan Biotech, Zhengxu Biotech, and Zhuanma Biotech, which have accomplished a number of rounds of financing, are all configured in this fashion.
(The founding staff state of affairs of some enterprises based by professors)
Among them, Professor Chen Jia, the founder of Zhengxu Biotech, is a professor at ShanghaiTech University and the director of the Gene Editing Center. He focuses on analysis in the fields of base modifying, DNA restore mechanism, and most cancers biology, and lots of of his analysis outcomes have been revealed in internationally famend educational journals resembling Nature Biotechnology and Nature Cell Biology. Although he’s the founder, Professor Chen Jia primarily focuses on laboratory analysis, and the corporate administration is entrusted to knowledgeable staff.
The administration staff of Zhengxu Biotech contains business veterans resembling Dr. Mu Xiaodun and Dr. Li Bin. As the CEO of Zhengxu Biotech, Dr. Mu Xiaodun has served as a senior government in nicely – recognized pharmaceutical corporations resembling WuXi Biologics, Merck & Co. (USA), and Pfizer (USA), with practically 20 years of industrial expertise; Dr. Li Bin has labored in multinational pharmaceutical corporations resembling Roche, Pfizer, Abbott, AbbVie, and Eli (*153*), with greater than 30 years of expertise in the biopharmaceutical business, overlaying areas resembling drug R & D, enterprise improvement, and enterprise capital.
Driven by the founder’s technological breakthroughs and the skilled staff, Zhengxu Biotech has accomplished three rounds of financing and has adequate funds; its enterprise improvement can also be extraordinarily clean: its first pipeline, CS – 101, has enabled many β – thalassemia sufferers to get rid of blood transfusion dependence and is in the IND scientific trial stage; the primary affected person handled with the bottom modifying drug CS – 121 injection has accomplished the administration and been discharged from the hospital easily. This is the world’s first case of treating hyperlipidemia sufferers by way of focused base modifying of the APOC3 gene.
In the funding area, the mixture of “scientist + senior industry professional + capital” is taken into account the highest configuration and is extra favored by funding establishments. This is the expertise summarized by traders over time: not each scientist is appropriate for entrepreneurship. Scientists primarily have interaction in inventive work, whereas business professionals pay extra consideration to the practicality of progressive expertise transformation and may also help scientists analyze the market, full scientific challenges, combine sources, and function the enterprise.
Previously, a administration staff with out a pharmaceutical business background was established primarily based on a professor’s scientific analysis outcomes, devoted to the “original innovation” of new medication for Alzheimer’s illness. However, maybe resulting from inadequate understanding of the particularity of the pharmaceutical business, the progress of its pipelines was comparatively sluggish, and the multi – pipeline structure required a big quantity of capital to advertise. The enterprise didn’t acquire funding from funding establishments. As the money stream dried up, the corporate progressively fell right into a state of inactivity. This destructive instance additionally proves the worth of senior business professionals.
It needs to be famous that in China, it isn’t simple to kind a mix of “scientist + senior industry professional.” The primary purpose is that entrepreneurial companions are scarce sources, and most of these abilities already maintain excessive positions and obtain excessive salaries in the business. It is extraordinarily tough to steer them to endure the hardships of entrepreneurship once more. In addition, it additionally entails a collection of exams resembling undertaking attractiveness, fairness distribution, and staff construction.
Third, high scientists with extraordinarily robust innovation capabilities and globally unique scientific analysis outcomes are additionally extra more likely to be favored by funding establishments. For instance, enterprises resembling Atek, Boquan Biotech, and Xunyao Biotech have obtained a number of rounds of financing primarily based on their globally unique outcomes.
Taking Atek for instance, it’s a globally unique new – technology protein degradation new drug R & D innovation platform. Its core expertise comes from the protein autophagy degradation expertise (ATTEC) revealed by Fudan University in the primary difficulty of “Nature” in 2019, which was rated as one of the highest ten papers in the world that yr by the journal.
Benefiting from its globally unique expertise, Atek reached a cooperation with a worldwide pharmaceutical big at its inception. Its product pipeline for neurodegenerative illnesses developed primarily based on the ATTEC protein degradation new drug R & D expertise platform has been acknowledged by the pharmaceutical firm, demonstrating its world competitiveness in unique innovation.
At the identical time, Atek has additionally reserved a number of in – home product pipelines with unbiased mental property rights in the fields of neurodegenerative illnesses and oncology. Currently, Atek has superior its globally aggressive initiatives to the PCC (Pre – Clinical Candidate) screening stage. Its first pipeline, ATCN1001, has proven good goal degradation effectivity in in vivo verification and is anticipated to change into a breakthrough progressive remedy in the sphere of Parkinson’s illness.
Perhaps primarily based on technological breakthroughs and scientific progress, Atek accomplished tens of tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing in August 2025, collectively invested by Shanghai Industrial Investment and Sanfu Fund. The funds shall be used to advertise the drug improvement and pre – scientific analysis of molecular glue focusing on neurodegenerative illness – inflicting protein degraders primarily based on the ATTEC expertise.
Fourth, professor entrepreneurs with the braveness to go all out usually tend to impress traders. In the previous, many traders suffered losses as a result of professors lacked the intention to start out a enterprise: some professors began companies with the mentality of “if it doesn’t succeed, I’ll go back to school and continue to be a professor.” However, entrepreneurs with a method out are sometimes extra doubtless to surrender when dealing with difficulties and setbacks.
Learning from previous experiences, traders now anticipate professors who take the initiative to start out companies and have a real intention to take action. Boda Medical, which just lately obtained financing, is a typical instance. In 2022, Xu Kailiang based Boda Medical primarily based on the expertise switch achievements of Fudan University, specializing in core applied sciences resembling ultrafast ultrasound imaging and tremendous – decision ultrasound imaging. At the start of its institution, Xu Kailiang gave numerous roadshows and met with a big quantity of traders, and the suggestions he acquired was that “professors won’t succeed if they don’t start businesses full – time.”
Facing such doubts, Xu Kailiang selected to guess on his educational achievements and private belongings and demonstrated his dedication to start out a enterprise by way of phrases in a playing settlement. Perhaps impressed by Xu Kailiang’s perseverance and braveness, Feitu Ventures invested in Boda Medical at a valuation of practically 100 million yuan. Boda Medical’s improvement didn’t disappoint traders: underneath Xu Kailiang’s full promotion, the primary domestically developed useful ultrasound imaging system independently developed by Boda Medical was launched on the market in December 2023; it collectively developed an ultrafast ultrasound cerebrovascular imager with Huashan Hospital, a number one medical establishment in the sphere of neurosurgery, and supported scientific analysis associated to human mind ultrasound imaging.
Perhaps as a result of fast improvement of Boda Medical, it obtained a brand new spherical of financing once more in July 2025, invested by Gaochuang Capital underneath the Haijian Group.
Overall, after the baptism of the earlier wave of scientific analysis achievement transformation, funding establishments have “learned from their mistakes” and now not blindly consider in the halo of professors. Instead, they focus extra on the exhausting background energy and entrepreneurial mentality of the founders and founding groups.
In entrepreneurship, expertise is vital, and alternatives are additionally vital
In the capital market, in addition to the founding staff, business alternatives are additionally crucial.
Some entrepreneurs occur to come across the trough interval of the business. Even with progressive applied sciences, they delay the event pace of their enterprises resulting from difficulties in financing; some occur to catch the wave of a rising business, are pursued by capital, and repeatedly full a number of rounds of financing, accelerating the event of their enterprises.
Taking the Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) area for instance , enterprises resembling Dage Biotech, Atek, Biaoxin Biotech, Danwang Medical, Duoyu Biotech, and Ruifuxin, which have laid out in the TPD area, have all efficiently obtained financing in the previous two years and quickly promoted their related pipelines with the assist of funds.
In the previous, the important thing to creating small – molecule medication was to seek out protein targets. However, there are about 19,000 sorts of proteins in the human physique, and the overwhelming majority of them are undruggable targets. According to the “Human Protein Atlas,” there are at present 5,068 recognized illness – associated proteins. Among them, about 700 protein targets are used in authorised small – molecule medication, about 1,200 are potential druggable targets, and greater than 3,000 proteins are referred to as “undruggable” targets.
TPD can successfully degrade these illness – inflicting proteins which might be tough to focus on by conventional small – molecule therapies, offering a brand new option to develop medication for undruggable targets. Currently, there are a number of technical methods to realize focused protein degradation, amongst which molecular glue and PROTAC are in the main place. Based on the innovation and vivid prospects of this expertise, multinational pharmaceutical corporations resembling Biogen, Novartis, Pfizer, BMS, Roche, Merck & Co., Eli (*153*), Sanofi, and Bayer have all laid out in this area by way of BD transactions or self – constructed pipelines. Relevant funding establishments additionally pay excessive consideration to enterprises in the TPD area. Therefore, enterprises associated to molecular glue and PROTAC have been continuously financing and having lively BD actions in the previous two years.
With the inflow of a big quantity of capital, home enterprises in the TPD area have made fast progress. For instance, the molecular glue pipeline GT919 developed by Biaoxin Biotech has entered the systematic mixture remedy