Alumni from Peking University are mass-producing hard-tech billionaires.
Another May 4th has arrived, and Peking University is celebrating its 128th birthday.
The stories around Weiming Lake have been told for over a century. However, in recent years, another narrative line emerging from this campus has become increasingly prominent. A group of enterprises founded by Peking University alumni are lining up to take the stage in the capital market.
According to incomplete statistics, in the whole year of 2025, several Peking University - affiliated alumni enterprises such as Minglue Technology, Novosense Microelectronics, Sunkern Nano, Jingfang Pharmaceuticals, QuantGroup, Zenlabs Energy, Dapeng Industry, and Yuanguang Technology successfully went public through IPO, covering cutting - edge fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, new energy, and biomedicine.
In 2026, this momentum has not slowed down; instead, it has accelerated. Luoshi Robotics submitted an updated prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the second time to strive for listing. Shenyan Intelligence restarted its IPO and abandoned the A - share market to head for Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Galaxy Universal Robotics has been breaking financing records round after round, Deep Potential Technology has joined the ranks of unicorns, and Zero Point Energy emerged from the Yanyuan Incubator... There are more and more Peking University - affiliated faces in both the secondary - market listing channels and the primary - market financing tracks.
This is not a coincidence. Behind these companies are a series of institutional innovations launched by Peking University in recent years in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. From the establishment of the Yuanpei Fund, to the market - oriented operation of Yanyuan Venture Capital, and then to the inauguration of the Yanyuan Incubator, a transformation chain from "laboratory to incubator to capital market" is taking shape.
When together, they are a blazing fire; when apart, they are stars all over the sky. The seeds of thought were sown more than a hundred years ago, and now an industrial forest has grown.
The story around Weiming Lake continues.
The "Peking University Affiliates" in the Capital Market are Gathering
In 2026, the list of "Peking University Affiliates" queuing for IPO is still growing.
The latest event took place in March this year when Luoshi Robotics submitted an updated prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. With its unique positioning as the only company in China that mass - produces both industrial robots and collaborative robots, it is striving to become the "first stock of full - series intelligent robots" in the Hong Kong stock market. The joint sponsors are CICC and Guotai Junan International, and the company has obtained the record - filing notice for overseas issuance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Tuo Hua, the founder of Luoshi Robotics, graduated from Peking University with a master's degree in Electronic and Communication Engineering in 2009 and has been deeply involved in the robotics field for more than a decade. The company has completed a total of ten rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of over 1.5 billion yuan and a valuation of approximately 5.3 billion yuan. Data shows that in terms of sales volume in 2025, the company ranked first among the top five flexible collaborative robot suppliers and the top five light - load industrial robot suppliers in China, with market shares of 47.0% and 5.8% respectively.
In the AI decision - making track, Shenyan Intelligence is also advancing its listing process. The company was jointly founded in 2009 by two Peking University alumni, Huang Xiaonan and Xie Peng. Its total revenue in three years is about 1.7 billion yuan, and nearly a hundred Fortune Global 500 companies are among its customers. After failing to list on the A - share market, the company restarted its IPO in 2025 and abandoned the A - share market to head for Hong Kong.
Looking at the financing side of the primary market, the Peking University Affiliates cannot be ignored. The most representative one is Galaxy Universal Robotics.
This company was founded in May 2023 by Wang He, an assistant professor at the Peking University Institute for Advanced Computational Studies. It is a typical project directly incubated by a Peking University laboratory. Wang He graduated from Tsinghua University with a bachelor's degree and from Stanford University with a doctor's degree. After returning to China, he joined Peking University as a faculty member. Yanyuan Venture Capital, a Peking University - affiliated investment institution, invested in the company at its earliest stage. In 2024, Peking University and Galaxy Universal further jointly established an Embodied Intelligence Joint Laboratory. Wang He said that the joint laboratory combines Peking University's profound academic accumulation in the fields of artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence with Galaxy Universal's capabilities in technology R & D and commercialization practice, and the two sides will jointly promote technological innovation and industrial development in this field.
Since its establishment less than three years ago, although Galaxy Universal has not started the listing process, it has accumulated financing of over 6 billion yuan, and its latest valuation is approximately 21 billion yuan. It is the domestic embodied intelligence startup with the highest valuation. In March 2026, Galaxy Universal completed a new round of financing of 2.5 billion yuan. The list of investors includes state - owned capital such as the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, Sinopec, and CITIC Investment Holdings, indicating its remarkable development momentum.
In the AI for Science track, another Peking University - affiliated unicorn is also worthy of attention. Deep Potential Technology was jointly founded in 2018 by two alumni from Peking University's Yuanpei College, Zhang Linfeng and Sun Weijie, to redefine the tools and processes of scientific research with AI. In December 2025, the company completed a Series C financing of over 800 million yuan, with a cumulative financing of billions of yuan, and officially joined the ranks of unicorns.
Meanwhile, projects directly emerging from the Yanyuan Incubator are also beginning to stand out. In February 2026, Zero Point Energy completed an angel - round financing of over 50 million yuan. This company was founded by Xiao Chijie, a tenured associate professor at the School of Physics of Peking University, focusing on the direction of controlled nuclear fusion. It is a representative project jointly incubated by the Yanyuan Incubator and Xishan Angel Investment Club and has jointly established the "Peking University Zero Point Energy Fusion Energy Joint Laboratory" with Peking University.
As we can see, from the embodied intelligence of Galaxy Universal to the controlled nuclear fusion of Zero Point Energy, Peking University's laboratories are pushing more and more cutting - edge achievements towards industrialization.
From Robin Li, Yu Minhong, and Li Bin in the Internet era to the current wave of hard - technology entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurial directions of Peking University Affiliates have undergone obvious changes. The alternating emergence of IPO queues and large - scale financings points to the same signal - the Peking University Affiliates are playing an increasingly important role in China's hard - technology entrepreneurial landscape, which also means that more and more hard - technology billionaires will come from Peking University in the future.
From Laboratory to Industry
The concentrated emergence of Peking University - affiliated alumni enterprises cannot be solely attributed to individual efforts. Behind this is a set of institutional systems established by Peking University in recent years for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. The core of this system consists of three entities: the Yuanpei Fund, Yanyuan Venture Capital, and the Yanyuan Incubator.
The Yuanpei Fund is a science and technology achievement transformation fund jointly initiated by Peking University and the Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Fund, with a scale of 1 billion yuan and a term of 12 years. The fund is named "Yuanpei" to commemorate the former president, Mr. Cai Yuanpei, and to imply the cultivation of original innovation. The fund closely cooperates with the Peking University Science and Technology Development Department to comprehensively connect the in - school laboratories, research centers, and cutting - edge scientific and technological projects of "Double First - Class" disciplines.
There has been a successful IPO project among the companies invested by the Yuanpei Fund. The latest event took place on November 18, 2025, when Hengkun New Materials was listed on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is one of the few domestic innovative enterprises with the R & D and mass - production capabilities of key materials for 12 - inch integrated circuit wafers, mainly engaged in the R & D, production, and sales of products such as photolithography materials and precursor materials. Among them, the Yuanpei Fund, the science and technology achievement transformation fund of Peking University, invested in Hengkun New Materials in June 2021.
The investment logic of the Yuanpei Fund is quite distinctive. According to the public introduction of the Peking University Science and Technology Development Department, the fund does not require early - stage projects to be perfect in all aspects but requires them to have long enough "long boards", such as leading technologies or the ability to solve a "choke - point" problem. When evaluating the founders, it first looks at their entrepreneurial enthusiasm, then at their energy and capital investment, to judge the reliability of the enterprise. As for the feasibility of the business model, there is no strict requirement in the early stage, allowing the enterprise to gradually verify it in the development process.
In addition to the Yuanpei Fund, Peking University also established Yanyuan Venture Capital through the Shanghai Lingang International Science and Technology Innovation Center. It is a private equity fund management company operating in accordance with market - oriented principles and completed the registration with the Asset Management Association of China in April 2023. Yanyuan Venture Capital focuses on early - stage, small - scale, and original - innovation investments and acts as patient capital, mainly investing in fields such as life sciences, information technology, new energy, and new materials.
In February this year, the first partners' meeting of the Shanghai Yanyuan Jingchun Fund managed by Yanyuan Venture Capital was held at the Global Science and Technology Innovation Roadshow Hall in Dinghao Building, Beijing. According to Li Jun, the general manager and managing partner of Yanyuan Venture Capital, who disclosed at the meeting, as the first blind - pool fund under Yanyuan Venture Capital, the Jingchun Fund has successively invested in projects of several Peking University scientific research teams, including Galaxy Universal, Yancore Microelectronics, Beiqi Biology, ZhiZaiWuJie, Hanhui Xichen, and Frontier Intelligence, covering hard - technology directions such as embodied intelligence, chips, biomedicine, and AI since its establishment in January 2025.
In June 2025, an important piece of the Yanyuan Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem fell into place. At that time, the Yanyuan Incubator was officially inaugurated at Dinghao Building in Zhongguancun, Beijing. Yao Weihao said at the inauguration ceremony that Peking University has established an efficient one - stop management system for achievement transformation, and the Yanyuan Incubator will play a supporting and coordinating role on this basis. He also suggested further aggregating the power of external professional institutions, especially alumni resources, to promote the integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain.
The signing lineup on the inauguration day was quite eye - catching. North Venture Capital, Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Group, Guangzhou Jin Kong Fund, Shenzhen Angel Mother Fund, CITIC Construction Securities, and Huatai United Securities became the first - batch strategic partners. The Beijing Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Beijing Branch of China CITIC Bank, Hankun Law Firm, and Guantao Law Firm signed high - quality incubation service cooperation agreements. The first - batch settled projects include Weifan Intelligence, ZhiZaiWuJie, Yancore Microelectronics, and Meiyin Intelligence.
Nearly a year after the inauguration, the operation results of the incubator are beginning to show.
Among them, ZhiZaiWuJie and Yancore Microelectronics, the first - batch settled projects, have both received investments from the Jingchun Fund, completing the closed - loop from incubation to investment. The path of Zero Point Energy is more complete. A scientific research achievement of a Peking University professor obtained early - stage services and resource connections through the joint incubation of the Yanyuan Incubator, and obtained continuous technical support by jointly establishing a joint laboratory with Peking University. In less than a year, it completed the angel - round financing and entered the industrialization track. This complete service chain from laboratory to incubator to joint laboratory and fund is rare among domestic universities.
From the early - stage and small - scale investment of the Yuanpei Fund, to the market - oriented operation of Yanyuan Venture Capital, and then to the on - the - ground services of the Yanyuan Incubator, Peking University is building a complete science and technology achievement transformation chain. The special feature of this chain is that it does not rely on a single fund or a star professor but forms a systematic and sustainable institutional arrangement.
A Closed - Loop Capital Cycle
In the era of hard - technology entrepreneurship, universities are not only the sources of projects and talents but also participants in the capital ecosystem. Peking University's layout in this regard has a clear context.
If we take a broader view, we can see that through the alumni network and the education foundation, Peking University is establishing a capital cycle of alumni donations, investment by the education foundation, investment by the achievement transformation fund, return from enterprise listing, and re - flowing back to the education foundation.
This path is not unique to Peking University. Globally, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are classic examples of the linkage between science and technology achievement transformation and alumni capital. However, in China, Peking University's practice is at the forefront. According to public information, more than a dozen universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, and Central South University, have established equity investment funds or participated in the primary market as limited partners.
Each university has its own pace, and Peking University also has its own rhythm. The Yuanpei Fund made its first investment in 2021, Yanyuan Venture Capital completed the registration with the Asset Management Association of China in 2023, and the Yanyuan Incubator was officially inaugurated in 2025. Although it started late, Peking University has chosen a path more focused on source innovation, concentrating on serving the first mile of achievement transformation.
This focus can be clearly seen from the investment cases of Peking University - affiliated venture capital institutions. Galaxy Universal Robotics originated from the Peking University Institute for Advanced Computational Studies, Yancore Microelectronics and Hanhui Xichen are from the semiconductor research direction of Peking University, and Beiqi Biology is connected to the scientific research resources in the field of life sciences at Peking University. They are all companies grown from laboratories.
After Galaxy Universal grew into a unicorn with a valuation of over 20 billion yuan, the Peking University Yanyuan Fund on its list of investors has become a representative case of early - stage university funds making accurate bets. The story of Zero Point Energy goes even further. It not only received the joint incubation support from the Yanyuan Incubator but also jointly established a fusion energy joint laboratory with Peking University, connecting the three links of incubation, joint laboratory, and early - stage investment into a complete chain.
The scientific and technological innovation capital power of the Peking University Affiliates is still expanding. At the first LP meeting of the Jingchun Fund, the participation of local government - guided funds such as the Shanghai Angel Investment Guided Fund and Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Investment indicates that Peking University's achievement transformation is no longer just an in - school matter but is connecting with the scientific and technological innovation capital systems in the Yangtze River Delta and even the whole country. From the perspective of the LP structure, the Jingchun Fund brings together various types of investors, including local - guided funds, state - owned asset platforms, and market - oriented mother funds. The model of government guidance and market - oriented operation not only ensures the public nature of the fund but also leaves professional space for investment decisions.
Looking ahead, the presence of the Peking University Affiliates in the capital market will probably continue to strengthen.
The tracks of embodied intelligence, large - scale artificial intelligence models, domestic substitution of semiconductors, innovative drugs, and controlled nuclear fusion are in a dense window period of financing and listing, and these directions happen to correspond to Peking University's basic research accumulation. The Yanyuan Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem is still expanding. The Yanyuan Science and Technology Innovation Competition has been launched, and the strategic cooperation between the Peking University Science and Technology Development Department and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen is being promoted. The project reserves of the incubator and the Jingchun Fund are constantly being enriched. In 2025, Peking University designated the whole year as the year of scientific and technological innovation, proposing the theme of cultivating a first - class ecosystem and serving the country's science and education strength. This layout is accelerating to be implemented into specific projects and real financings in 2026.
The 128 - year - old Peking University is telling a new story. The protagonists of the story are no longer just the poets and thinkers around Weiming Lake but also a group of scientist - entrepreneurs who are moving from the laboratory to the industry. With Peking University's scientific research accumulation and the support of alumni capital, they have found their positions on the stage of China's scientific and technological innovation.
The name "Yanyuan" is derived from "Yanyuan Garden" and "fate", which may exactly summarize the essence of this path. Every "fate" starting from Yanyuan Garden may grow into an enterprise that changes the industrial landscape.