The report shows that in 2024, the financing scale in Shanghai was nearly 100 billion yuan, with Zhangjiang Science City and the Lingang New Area contributing 36%.
On April 23, the "Innovation in Shanghai: 2024 Shanghai Technology Enterprise Investment and Financing Ecosystem Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") was officially released at the "2025 Shanghai Tech-Forest Conference" (Tech-Forest Conference, abbreviated as TFC).
The opening of the Shanghai Tech-Forest Conference
The Report shows that in 2024, there were a total of 997 financing events in Shanghai, with a disclosed amount of 96.638 billion yuan. With a 13.2% share of financing events and a 15.4% share of the amount, Shanghai firmly ranks among the top in the country. Among them, the three leading industries of artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and integrated circuits accounted for more than 56%. For the first time, the number of AI financings exceeded that of integrated circuits, marking the entry of cutting-edge fields such as large AI models and embodied intelligence into an explosive growth period.
In terms of regional distribution in Shanghai, Pudong New Area leads with an absolute advantage. There were 353 financing events, accounting for 40% of the total in Shanghai, and the disclosed amount was 40.853 billion yuan, ranking first in both aspects. In Zhangjiang Science City, 80% of the 226 financings throughout the year were concentrated in the three leading industries, forming a complete chain from basic research to industrialization. Lingang New Area has emerged as a new growth pole with 133 financings, and the financing in the integrated circuit field accounted for 31.1%.
In terms of stage distribution, early-stage financing accounts for a significant proportion. In Lingang New Area, the proportion of angel-round and Series A financings reached 77.8%. In terms of investment institutions, the proportion of investments with state-owned background increased against the trend, accounting for 34.2% of the participating events. Future industry funds and the mother funds of the three leading industries focus on "investing in early-stage and small-scale hard-tech projects". Private institutions participated in 70% of the financing events, becoming the main force in the market and showing strong resilience.
The "hard-tech" track leads the way. A total of 1,376 institutions have placed bets, and the proportion of hard-tech investments has increased, reflecting the trend of the capital market accelerating its concentration in the field of new-quality productivity. Capital is accelerating its layout in future tracks such as low-altitude economy and embodied intelligence. At the same time, capital is concentrating on leading enterprises and accelerating the layout of domestic substitution tracks such as semiconductor equipment and precision instruments.
The regional agglomeration effect is prominent. Zhangjiang Science City, Lingang New Area, Caohejing Development Zone, and Dalinghao Bay have become active science and technology innovation parks. Among them, the two major science and technology innovation cores of Zhangjiang Science City and Lingang New Area contribute 36% of the city's financing volume. At the same time, Dalinghao Bay in Xuhui and Minhang is also rising rapidly.
In addition, to deepen the science and technology innovation service ecosystem network, the "Zhangtongshe Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem Service Alliance" was announced to be established at the TFC Conference. More than 20 enterprises were awarded the title of "2025 Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem Partners". And jointly with the Shanghai Association for the Promotion of Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation, a corporate solicitation activity called "Searching for the Next Explosive Force" was launched to discover and support a group of science and technology innovation enterprises with disruptive innovation potential and high growth.
As global competition in scientific and technological innovation intensifies, problems such as the difficulty in transforming early-stage scientific and technological achievements and the low efficiency of enterprise resource docking are restricting the development of China's hard-tech. In order to accelerate the industrialization process of hard-tech, build a full-cycle service system for enterprises, and jointly establish a long-term innovation mechanism, the Zhangtongshe Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem Service Alliance was officially established at the conference. The alliance combines government parks, technology enterprises, investment institutions, and third-party service institutions to form a full-chain service system covering technology R & D, industrial implementation, and capital docking.
The establishment of the Zhangtongshe Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem Service Alliance
It is reported that the Zhangtongshe Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem Service Alliance was jointly initiated by 8 units including Zhangtongshe, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech, and Bank of Communications. Starting from Zhangjiang and radiating to the Yangtze River Delta, it deepens the science and technology innovation service ecosystem network. By integrating multiple resources, promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and serving the regional development strategy, it creates an open and collaborative science and technology innovation service ecosystem, providing full-life-cycle support for technology enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta and even the whole country, and helping the region build a globally competitive science and technology innovation ecosystem.
The "2025 Shanghai Tech-Forest Conference" was guided by the Science and Technology and Economic Commission of Pudong New Area, Shanghai and the Construction and Management Office of Zhangjiang Science City, Shanghai, supported by the Shanghai Association for the Promotion of Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation, the Science and Technology Innovation Industry Service Center of Zhangjiang Science City, the Science and Technology Finance Center (Zhangjiang) of Bank of Communications, the Pudong Science and Technology Sub - branch of Shanghai Bank, and Shanghai Liangxun IoT Technology Co., Ltd., and jointly hosted by Zhangtongshe and Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi - Tech Park Development Co., Ltd.