Investors are starting to "switch poker tables"
On one hand, the hard technology track is booming with a blowout of financing demand; on the other hand, institutions are facing fierce competition, regulatory changes, and rising uncertainty over exit and profit realization, leading many investors to start re-selecting their "game tables".
If you cannot obtain the BP of the "star project", you will submit your own Resume instead.
In the second half of 2026, the consensus tracks in the primary market are getting increasingly crowded. At the same time, a group of investors who are unwilling to get stuck in the involution of popular tracks have adjusted their mindset and directly submitted their resumes to startups.
A Large Number of Investors Are Leaving Their Posts Concentratedly
As the "boiling trend" in the primary market continues to intensify, enterprises have become a tacitly accepted career direction for investors.
Not long ago, a friend working in an investment institution revealed to me that she just left her job and joined a domestic hard technology enterprise, where she got a very competitive salary and title, and the room for career growth is also quite promising. She said frankly: "This is an active choice after careful consideration."
Following this clue, I also consulted several headhunters. As expected, similar demands are on the rise: many investors are actively inquiring about job opportunities in enterprises. Some people have a very clear attitude: "I can negotiate for the position of enterprise leader, but I will not consider any position in funds directly."
A group of investors are quietly leaving their current positions.
It is not new for investors to join enterprises in the venture capital circle. Looking back at the past two years, institutions downsized, tracks cooled down, and projects ran aground... During the industry downturn, the survival pressure of GPs surged, and investors began to save themselves one after another, transforming into self-media operators or FAs, while some investors found their own way out and joined the portfolio enterprises. At that time, joining an enterprise was more of a helpless compromise.
But this time, the situation is completely different.
Since the beginning of this year, the primary market has been extremely lively, with abundant capital inflow and endless financing demands, making competing for projects and shares the norm, and the FOMO sentiment has staged a comeback. In this round of talent flow, investors are much more calm. Many of those who left are core backbones of the institutions and deep cultivators in their respective tracks, and they are more active in career choices. The salary, incentives and job levels offered by enterprises are also sufficiently attractive.
Many cases have already emerged in the market: a former head of a municipal state-owned fund platform, after leaving his post, entered the aerospace track and served as vice president of a leading commercial aerospace enterprise, which has become a typical case of talents transferring from state-owned capital institutions to enterprises. According to our observation, this group of people who switched to enterprises are not only taking financing positions, some of them can obtain more core positions — deputy general manager, general manager, and even co-founder.
"In the past, we said we 'went down' to enterprises, but now we call it 'reaching the safe shore'," an institutional investor confessed to us.
Among market-oriented institutions, there are also a large number of investors choosing to leave. A well-known manager of a Beijing market-oriented fund of funds we are familiar with was laid off at the end of last year. After taking a break, he joined a physical technology company, completing the transition from the capital back office to the industrial front office.
Similar personnel flows are taking place in different tracks: Zhang Yutong, former partner of GSR Ventures, joined Moonshot AI, a large model startup; Xiong Fei, former partner of Matrix Partners China, joined Feishu; in the consumer investment field, Pan Pan, managing partner of Tian Tu Capital, served as head of strategy of ChaYanYueSe; there are also investors who transferred from Eastern Bell Capital and Jingya Capital to Yuanqu Technology, an enterprise service company they once invested in, to serve as chief strategy officer.
More and more investors with years of project resources and fundraising experience are turning their sights to the industrial end, with a very clear career path. According to our observation, partners and MD-level talents usually serve as general managers or even co-founders after joining enterprises; those who used to be responsible for investment or fundraising in institutions mostly serve as heads of financing in enterprises; some investors also directly participate in project operations after joining enterprises. In terms of their destinations, these investors are accurately targeting popular tracks such as AI, embodied intelligence, and aerospace.
From "being a good investor after achieving outstanding results in entrepreneurship" to "starting a business after achieving outstanding results in investment". Leaving for enterprises is no longer a last resort, but a well-considered active choice.
A Two-Way Rush Between Investors and Enterprises
The warming and booming of the primary market provides investors with a more comfortable space for career transition.
On one hand, LP's capital contribution is steadily rebounding. According to statistics from FOFWEEKLY, in June, the capital contribution activity of institutional LPs rebounded by 22.1% month-on-month and increased by 64.2% year-on-year, which was one of the highest points of monthly activity in the first half of 2026.
On the other hand, the investment side is also very hot. High-quality projects never lack capital, and the financing pace is extremely fast. A few days ago, an embodied intelligence company registered for less than 90 days successively completed 3 rounds of financing, raising a total of tens of billions of yuan. The first round was quickly snatched up by top capitals within 3 days after the announcement.
The valuation of 1 billion yuan has not been fully settled, the financing for the 2 billion yuan valuation has already started, and the 3 billion yuan valuation is waiting in line... The financing progress is calculated by month, and before the industrial and commercial change of the previous round is completed, the next round has already been put on the agenda. An investor confessed: "I haven't encountered such a hot market for many years."
And such a fast pace is almost only concentrated in the same direction — leading enterprises focusing on AI, robotics and other sectors. According to the statistical data from IT Juzi, the total financing amount of Chinese AI startups in the first half of 2026 exceeded 3 trillion yuan, and the volume of only 6 months has surpassed that of the whole year of 2025. AI financing accounts for about 48.6% of the primary market — Nearly 1 yuan out of every 2 yuan financed in the market flows to the AI sector.
As the track booms and capital flows in, the capitalization pace of leading hard technology enterprises is accelerated, and the company's demand for capital talents is released accordingly.
Under the high-frequency, large-amount and multi-round financing rhythm, enterprises are in urgent need of talents who understand the primary market and can connect with top institutions, a large number of science and innovation enterprises are actively extending an olive branch to the primary market. "Now almost all leading hard technology companies are supplementing their capital teams. The financing pace is so fast that the internal original teams cannot keep up with the operation rules of the primary market," a company founder told us.
Many star enterprises are supplementing their capital teams: Unitree Robotics, Galaxy Universal, Starseas Map, Songyan Power, Moonshot AI, MiniMax and other popular AI enterprises have absorbed a large number of talents from investment institutions one after another. In order to compete for scarce talents, the conditions offered by enterprises are also very attractive.
For some investors, joining an enterprise is also a good choice. In their view, the collective chasing and group investment is amplifying the fragility of the market.
As we can see, the risk of valuation inversion between the primary and secondary markets is emerging. In the first half of 2026, 154 Chinese enterprises were listed at home and abroad, a year-on-year increase of 41.3%, but by the end of the first quarter, 24 out of 40 new shares had fallen below their issue price, with a break rate of about 60%. The uncertainty of project exit and profit realization has risen, coupled with the implementation of new industry regulatory regulations, the new round of standardized clearance has tightened the threshold for new fund establishment, and the stage of extensive expansion of the industry has officially ended.
On one hand, the hard technology track is in full prosperity with a blowout of corporate financing demand; on the other hand, institutions are facing fierce involution, as well as long-term pressure brought by exit and realization and regulatory changes, many investors have started to re-select their "game tables".
Conclusion
However, joining an enterprise is not a shortcut full of only dividends.
The change of identity means that investors need to adapt to a new value model. Compared with being able to judge accurately and explain clearly, what enterprises need more is to put into practice and deliver good results. While a large number of investors are leaving their institutions, there are also cases where talents who joined enterprises as airborne executives left due to disagreements during team integration.
In any case, one point is undeniable: the professional boundary of investors is constantly expanding.
This article is from the WeChat Official Account "FOFWEEKLY", author: Huang Rong, published with authorization from 36Kr.