Author/Wu Qiong
Report/PEdaily of the Investment Community
Another phenomenal return in the enterprise capital circle.
Since its itemizing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January eighth, the inventory value of Zhipu has been hovering all the approach. In only one week, its market worth has elevated by over HK$50 billion. As of now, Zhipu’s newest market worth has reached HK$110 billion.
Since its institution, Zhipu has accomplished at the very least 8 rounds of financing, with a complete financing scale of over 8.3 billion yuan. More than 50 institutional traders have gathered behind it, with a complete of 87 shareholders. With the sharp rise of the inventory value, the traders and the worker staff behind it have all achieved tremendous returns.
What the outdoors world not often notices is that when Zhipu was established in 2019, an especially essential determine appeared – Huakong Technology. It is the expertise switch platform of Tsinghua University and has accompanied Zhipu ever since, making a story of exceptional returns.
Zhipu’s Market Value Reaches HK$110 Billion: A Tsinghua Story
Looking again, Zhipu has an extended – standing predecessor.
Going again to 2006, the Knowledge Engineering Group (KEG) of the Department of Computer Science at Tsinghua University launched a product known as AMiner. Its core is to make use of synthetic intelligence to mine scientific analysis legal guidelines, which laid the basis for Zhipu’s expertise in the future.
In 2019, with the intention to maximize the worth of scientific analysis achievements, Zhipu was established with the assist of the previous technical accumulation of the KEG Laboratory. Among them, Tang Jie, a nicely – identified professor in the Department of Computer Science at Tsinghua University, serves as the Chief Scientist; Zhang Peng, a doctoral pupil in the Innovative Leading Engineering Program at Tsinghua University, serves as the CEO and General Manager, main the enterprise, R & D and operations; Liu Debing serves as the Chairman, answerable for technique and administration.
With Zhipu’s itemizing, the firm’s preliminary fairness construction has additionally surfaced – along with the founding staff members, it additionally consists of two unbiased third events, Zhongke Chuangxing and Huakong Technology.
Among them, Huakong Technology was established in 2014. As a platform – kind firm for the expertise switch of Tsinghua University, it’s the fundamental entity for Tsinghua to incubate and promote expertise switch. As early as when Zhipu began unbiased entrepreneurship, Huakong Technology turned an preliminary shareholder. Data exhibits that at the moment, Huakong Technology held 11.99% of the shares.
Zhang Peng as soon as mentioned that the firm began with expertise, a staff, clients and a market. “It had revenue from day one.” Subsequently, a wave of enormous – scale fashions swept throughout, and Zhipu firmly ranked amongst the first echelon of home massive – scale fashions. Now that Zhipu is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, its newest market worth is HK$110 billion.
A mission rising from a Tsinghua laboratory has created a market worth of tens of billions. This is precisely the touching a part of the expertise switch from universities. Currently, Huakong Technology holds 3.53% of Zhipu’s shares, comparable to a market worth of roughly HK$3.883 billion. In different phrases, this expertise switch mission has introduced a guide revenue of over HK$3.8 billion to Tsinghua.
The story of Tsinghua’s expertise switch continues. So far, it has incubated star initiatives corresponding to Wuwen Xinqiong, Huayi Quantum, Xingdong Jiyuan, Qingwei Intelligence, and Qingshen Technology. It is reported that Huakong Technology represents Tsinghua University to carry and handle the fairness belonging to the college and its departments fashioned by the expertise switch, realizing the environment friendly administration of the fairness of expertise switch initiatives and the preservation and appreciation of state – owned belongings, and feeding again the obtained advantages to the college to constantly assist technological innovation.
A Super Return in the Venture Capital Circle
Remember on the first day of itemizing, Zhipu’s market worth exceeded HK$50 billion. Even so, the traders behind it have reaped wealthy rewards.
Zhipu’s itemizing coincided with the IPO dividend interval for Chinese expertise firms. Not solely Zhipu, however on the first day of MiniMax’s itemizing, its market worth exceeded HK$100 billion, which was much more speedy.
What occurred to Zhipu on this week from a market worth of HK$50 billion to over HK$100 billion?
When the home massive – scale fashions enter a brand new stage of competitors, the commercialization potential is especially essential. In the previous week, Zhipu and Didi introduced a strategic cooperation, which can discover the utility of AGI expertise and clever brokers in the journey area. The firm’s inventory value instantly rose by greater than 30% on that day.
Then on January sixteenth, Zhipu introduced the collectively open – sourced new – era picture – era mannequin GLM – Image with Huawei. Within lower than 24 hours after its open – supply launch, it topped the Trending listing of the globally nicely – identified AI open – supply neighborhood Hugging Face. As anticipated, there was one other sharp rise.
In complete, Zhipu’s inventory value has risen by greater than 126% in seven buying and selling days since its itemizing, making a tens – of – billions IPO in Beijing this 12 months.
This state of affairs is undoubtedly the harvest time that traders have been wanting ahead to. According to the prospectus, earlier than the IPO, Zhipu had accomplished at the very least 8 rounds of financing, with a complete financing scale of over 8.3 billion yuan. More than 50 institutional shareholders have gathered behind it. According to the change order in the prospectus, they embrace enterprise capital establishments corresponding to Zhongke Chuangxing, Huakong Technology Transfer Co., Ltd., Tongzhi Investment, Fortune Capital, Huakong Fund, Legend Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Capital Today, Guanghe Venture Capital, Shunwei Capital, Sequoia China, Hillhouse Capital, Yunhui Capital, China Merchants Group Venture Capital, Prosperity7, 5G Fund, Zhuhai Science and Technology Industry Group, Zhongguancun Science City, Ceyuan Ventures, Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group; industrial capitals corresponding to Meituan, Ant Group, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Kingsoft, Boss Zhipin, and TAL Education Group; and native state – owned belongings from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou and different locations.
The listing of Zhipu’s cumulative shareholders is just too massive to listing all of them. But there isn’t any doubt that that is already a wonderful state of affairs – in the final spherical of financing in May 2025, the price per share of Zhipu was 60.52 yuan, and now the inventory value has quadrupled.
Of course, the firm’s core staff has additionally acquired beneficiant rewards. Currently, Huihui and Zhideng are the worker shareholding platforms of Zhipu, holding 8.97% and 6.18% of the shares respectively. It is reported that Huihui has 426 restricted companions, all of whom are present and former workers of Zhipu; Zhideng has 25 restricted companions, all of whom are present workers and consultants of Zhipu. As netizens put it:
“Overnight, a group of people in Haidian have achieved financial freedom.”
The Era of University Entrepreneurship in China
This is a microcosm of the expertise switch from universities.
Tsinghua University has all the time been at the forefront. Over the years, Tsinghua has successively established specialised establishments to advertise expertise switch, corresponding to the Leading Group for Intellectual Property Management and Technology Transfer, the Technology Transfer Research Institute, and the School – Local Cooperation Office, and has established a comparatively full expertise switch system.
Taking Huakong Technology for instance, since its institution, it has promoted greater than 350 initiatives, masking greater than 40 departments, together with greater than 40 initiatives led by academicians. The initiatives cowl the fields of knowledge expertise, vitality and environmental safety, excessive – finish manufacturing, life and well being, and new supplies science and expertise, steadily turning into a mannequin for expertise switch.
Another typical case that involves thoughts is Deephi Tech, collectively based by lecturers and college students from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University. In 2018, it was acquired by Xilinx for $300 million, thus turning into the first enterprise capital exit case in China’s AI business and the first firm beneath Tsinghua’s laws to make use of scientific analysis achievements as fairness, commercialize merchandise and obtain money returns.
Even extra astonishing is a set of information. In the previous three years, Tsinghua University has accomplished the disposal of roughly 450 achievements, with a complete quantity of over 1.5 billion yuan, and has incubated 300 enterprises corresponding to Zhipu. According to the “Annual Report on China’s Technology Transfer 2024”, Tsinghua University ranked first on the listing of the complete contract quantity of expertise switch of upper training establishments in 2023.
Of course, it isn’t simply Tsinghua. After an extended – time period R & D course of, an increasing number of expertise switch initiatives are rising from laboratories.
This week, Zeling Biotech submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Looking again, Zeling Biotech grew up counting on the expertise switch mechanism of West China Hospital of Sichuan University. The particular person in cost behind it’s Dr. Chen Lijuan, a professor at West China Hospital of Sichuan University.
A variety of entrepreneurship initiatives from universities have caught a great alternative. For instance, Star Ring Energy, which originated from the fusion laboratory of Tsinghua University, lately raised 1 billion yuan in financing directly, creating the largest fusion financing at the starting of the 12 months; the University of Science and Technology of China has incubated a lot of quantum enterprises corresponding to QuantumCTek; driving on the wave of business area, Blitec’s newest market worth exceeds 30 billion yuan, and it is a mission from Northwestern Polytechnical University…
Historical expertise exhibits that the supply of technological innovation typically comes from universities. More and extra college lecturers and college students with authentic innovation potential are stepping out of the ivory tower, and universities are consistently bettering their inside expertise switch programs. “Going to universities to look for projects” has change into a standard scene in the enterprise capital circle. The subsequent spark that can change the future could also be hidden in a sure laboratory.
Different from the previous, the period of expertise – primarily based entrepreneurship in China is rising.
This article is from the WeChat public account “Investment Community”. Author: Wu Qiong. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.