WAVES 2026: This summer, be the few who stand tall against the wind in the venture capital waves!
Meet at WAVES 2026 in the midsummer! A group of the few who face the wind are setting off a new wave of innovative forces in China.
In 2026, the waves in the venture capital circle are surging again: AI has moved from a technological concept into the deep waters of the industry, and hard - tech entrepreneurship has changed from a "niche track" to a "mainstream consensus". Young entrepreneurs are redefining the future coordinates of Chinese innovation.
Every year, the WAVES Conference hosted by 36Kr is the annual vane of the Chinese venture capital circle. This year's WAVES 2026 is themed "This Midsummer" and is held at Liangcang Xinzao Creative Park in Panyu, Guangzhou. In two days, we have gathered top - tier investors, industry leaders, and emerging entrepreneurs. Through in - depth round - tables, independent speeches, roster releases and many other wonderful sessions, we have fully dissected the underlying logic of core tracks such as AI, hard - tech, going global, and healthcare, and witnessed how the perseverance of "the few" converges into a wave that changes the industry.
At the beginning of the conference, a relevant official from the Panyu District Government of Guangzhou took the stage to deliver a welcome speech, highlighting the core advantages of Panyu as the geographical center and innovation origin of the Greater Bay Area, and elaborating on the strategic layout of the region to gather global high - end innovation elements and build a full - chain industrial cultivation system. He said that the Panyu District Party Committee and the government will fully support the development of enterprises as strategic partners, urban partners, and guardians of development. With real - money policy support and the best business environment, they sincerely invite all innovative forces to take root in Panyu and create a better future together.
"This midsummer is not just a season, but also a mindset of daring to be exposed to the sun, daring to sweat, and daring to move forward when others are seeking coolness." Feng Dagang, the CEO of 36Kr, said in the speech on behalf of the organizer. From Under36 in 2017 to WAVES today, 36Kr has always been doing the same thing: shining the spotlight on those who are about to change the world. And this year, we have moved the stage to Panyu - this innovation rainforest with the headquarters of GAC Aion, the supply - chain base of SHEIN, 100% domestically - produced coffee robots, and VR devices exported to 100 countries, allowing the waves of venture capital to take root in the soil of the industry.
Feng Dagang, the CEO of 36Kr, delivered a speech on behalf of the organizer.
After the speech on behalf of the organizer, Huang Qihuai, a member of the Party group and deputy director of the Investment Promotion Center of Panyu District, Guangzhou, gave a promotion of Panyu's industries. He systematically interpreted Panyu's "2104" modern industrial system and the "two - axis and two - corridor" spatial development pattern, demonstrating the strong potential of the region to build a full - chain ecosystem from innovation incubation to industrial implementation, relying on its land - sea - air three - dimensional transportation hub, dense university research resources, and mature industrial clusters, enabling the guests present to deeply perceive the infinite potential of this entrepreneurial hot land.
Huang Qihuai, a member of the Party group and deputy director of the Investment Promotion Center of Panyu District, Guangzhou, gave a promotion of Panyu's industries.
Subsequently, Li Liting, the Party secretary and president of the South China Sub - branch of the Agricultural Bank of China in Guangzhou, took the stage to deliver a welcome speech. She said that the Agricultural Bank of China will always shoulder the mission of a state - owned large - scale bank, adhere to resonating with the local economy, and deeply empower future industrial tracks such as hard - tech and artificial intelligence with a "five - in - one" full - cycle package of financial services, and join hands with the venture capital circle and science - and - technology innovation enterprises to inject financial impetus into the high - quality development of Panyu and even the Greater Bay Area.
Li Liting, the Party secretary and president of the South China Sub - branch of the Agricultural Bank of China in Guangzhou, took the stage to deliver a welcome speech.
After a series of speeches, a signing ceremony for the Panyu Future Industry Innovation Alliance was held on - site. This alliance integrates the core resources of the government, state - owned platforms, financial institutions, and industrial media. Focusing on three major directions: investment promotion, brand promotion, and industrial docking, it will become an important carrier for Panyu to connect with global innovation resources and promote the development of future industrial clusters.
Signing ceremony for the Panyu Future Industry Innovation Alliance
Waves: Standing at the door of VC3.0,
Redefining the timeline of AI
The "Waves" session on the morning of June 16 was the first horn of WAVES 2026. From the leadership speeches, Panyu promotion to the signing ceremony, we saw a city's openness and expectation for innovation. And the real waves started with the first round - table "Summer Comes and Goes · VC3.0".
Hosted by Feng Dagang, Wang Xiao, the founder of Jiuhua Venture Capital, Liu Ying, a partner of SoftBank China Capital, and Gao Yuhui, a managing partner of Chuangdongfang Investment Management, stood at the door of VC3.0 together, dissecting the changes and constants in the industry: from PC Internet to mobile Internet, from model innovation to hard - tech, the VC track has gone through multiple cycles. The core of VC3.0 has never been to deny the past, but to re - bet on the future - the valuation logic is changing, the exit path is changing, and the criteria for judging people are changing. However, betting on non - consensus and believing in long - termism will always be the background color of the venture capital industry.
If the first round - table talked about the "season" of investment, the second round - table "Hey? AI! - This month, this year, and these five years of AI" pulled us into the "timeline" of technology.
Hosted by Hai Ruojing, the deputy editor - in - chief of Anyong, Wang Bei, a partner of Hillhouse Ventures, Wang Yang, a managing partner of Songhe Capital, and Cai Wei, a partner of Guanghe Venture Capital, used a series of questions to dissect the real evolution of the AI industry: Which AI application secretly climbed to the top this month? How many founders have changed from "AI +" to "AI - native" this year? Will we look back at today in five years and think everything was too slow? The consensus of the guests is that AI is not a passing fad. It is becoming the horizon - you can't see its end, but it's always there, reshaping the underlying logic of every industry.
The subsequent round - table "One step ahead of the consensus: The real chess game of AI venture capital" focused on the currently hot AI track. Now the AI industry is in a boom, and the whole industry has not yet formed a unified consensus. However, real opportunities often emerge before the consensus is established. Ba Rui, the deputy editor - in - chief of Anyong, joined hands with Zhu Tianyu, a managing partner of BlueRun Ventures, and Qin Shentao, the founder & CEO of OriginFlow, to jointly dissect the current pattern, opportunities, and challenges of AI venture capital and explore the real logic beneath the surface of the track.
After the topic of AI investment was settled, the on - site entered the independent speech session. Zhang Junbin, the founder and CEO of Yunjing Intelligence, took the stage to give a sharing on the theme of "Ten Years". Starting from his own entrepreneurial journey, he reviewed his ten - year perseverance in home - cleaning hardware: from polishing the product prototype, repeated on - site tests to mass - producing self - cleaning mop robots and achieving global implementation, he adhered to long - term product - oriented thinking in the impetuous cycle of consumer hardware. The on - site host commented: In ten years, he polished a robot that can wash its own mop and also polished a heart that is not disturbed by the waves. When he talked about product implementation, in essence, he was talking about the industrial power brought by time precipitation.
The last round - table in the morning, "In 2026, the year of technology - 'The few are the waves'", chose to let "the few" be seen. He Sichong, the project leader of the NEXTA Innovation Laboratory of Ant Group, served as the host of this session. He joined hands with Luo Xiaoheng, the chief strategist of Pasini Perception Technology, Tang Xuanlai, the CTO of Qinglang Intelligent, Zhu Zheng, the co - founder and chief scientist of Jijia Vision, and Meng Hao, the founder and CEO of Dajie Robotics, to share their stories of silently delving into niche but important fields such as tactile perception, commercial robots, and world models. The sharing of the guests confirmed the core theme of this year's conference: The few are the waves. It's not because the few are naturally right, but because most changes start with the perseverance of the few.
With the release of the list of the most popular investors among entrepreneurs in 2026 and the list of the most active investors from 2025 - 2026, the morning "Waves" session came to an end. Each list is a tribute to long - termism and a trust map of the Chinese venture capital market.
Top 100 most popular investors among Chinese entrepreneurs, ranking not in order
Top 100 most popular investors among Chinese entrepreneurs, ranking not in order
