The angel round is also on the upswing.
The "+" financing has started to appear frequently in the angel round.
This phenomenon can be traced back to several financing news this year.
On July 8th, Tashizhihang secured another $122 million in its Angel+ round financing. Since its establishment five months ago, the company has raised over $240 million in total.
On July 1st, Anhui Yixi Decoration Design Co., Ltd. received 10 million yuan in its Angel+ round financing, led by Zhongjing Investment.
Going back to May, Luming Robotics announced the completion of its "Angel++" financing. This was already the third round of financing for this humanoid robot company, which was established just one year ago, within half a year, with a total amount of nearly 200 million yuan. Additionally, Lanxiao Aviation, the first domestic manufacturer of range-extended tilt-rotor eVTOL cargo drones, also announced the completion of its "Angel++" round financing in the same month.
Moreover, companies such as Weifen Zhifei, Dongyi Technology, Yushi Space, Xingji Guangnian, and Sufang New Energy all announced their Angel+ financing around May this year.
These news items have one thing in common: the financing rounds have reached "Angel+" or "Angel++", and they have occurred intensively in the past half year. I even saw a "Seed+" round financing. On July 8th, "Shentingji Intelligent Technology", a developer of AI companion robots, announced the completion of a multi-million-yuan Seed+ round financing.
This phenomenon is not accidental. I have obtained more substantial evidence during my communication with many early-stage projects this year. An early-stage entrepreneur in the AI + smart device field also told me, "Now, many startups are receiving funds from the'mini angel round', and the amount of each single financing has shrunk significantly compared to expectations."
I still remember that the last new thing in the financing rounds occurred in August last year. In the article "A project is already in the A+++++ round of financing", it was mentioned that the financing round with five "+" signs appeared for the first time and attracted attention. This time, more and more "+" signs have even appeared in the angel round. What kind of context in the primary market does this reflect?
Frequent split financing in the angel round
Before 2022, the names of financing rounds in the primary market were relatively standardized and clear. After 2022, due to the shortage of financing rounds, especially for the characteristics of Series A companies, there has been a frequent occurrence of split financing phenomena such as Pre-A+, A++, A+++, and even A+++++ in the industry. However, the situation of "++" has rarely involved the angel round frequently.
In 2025, "+" financing has started to emerge in large numbers in the angel round, and the trend is accelerating to spread to a wider range of hard technology fields. In just the past two months, many companies mentioned above have announced the completion of their "Angel+" or "Angel++" round financing.
Luming Robotics is a typical representative of the "Angel++" phenomenon. Founded in 2024 by Yu Chao, the former head of the humanoid robot business at Dreame, the founder graduated from Tsinghua University and holds degrees in mathematics, energy and power, and aerospace. He has nearly 10 years of experience in the research, development, and industrialization of embodied robots. In terms of products, the company has successfully launched the full-size humanoid robot LUS, which is expected to achieve mass production within this year. At the same time, it has released the LUX series of visual-tactile modules - the core component products of humanoid robots.
In terms of capital, Luming Robotics' financing pace is astonishingly fast: it completed three rounds of financing within half a year, with a total angel round financing of nearly 200 million yuan. In April this year, the company announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in financing for the angel round and the Angel+ round. At the end of May, it announced the completion of the Angel++ round financing, with investors including Fosun RZ Capital, Dematic Technology, and Wuzhong Financial Holding.
Another project with a lightning - fast financing pace is Lanxiao Aviation. In February 2025, it completed its angel round financing, led by Lenovo Star and Haiyi Investment. In the same month, it also completed the Angel+ round financing solely invested by Gobi Partners, with a cumulative investment of several tens of millions of yuan. In May 2025, the company announced the completion of its Angel++ round financing, led by Initium Capital, with Lenovo Star and Gobi Partners over - subscribing. In just half a year, the company has raised nearly 100 million yuan in three rounds of financing.
In addition, Tashizhihang, which recently received a $122 million Angel+ round financing, was established only five months ago. This round of financing was led by Meituan Strategic Investment, with co - investors including Junshan Investment, Bihong Investment, Guoqi Investment, Lingang Kechuang Investment, SAIF Partners, and Jianfa Emerging Investment. Old shareholders such as Linear Capital and Xianghe Capital continued to increase their investment. On March 26th this year, Tashizhihang just announced the completion of a $120 million angel round financing, setting a record for the largest angel round financing in China's embodied intelligence industry at that time.
By analyzing these companies that are conducting "Angel+" or even "Angel++" financing, we can find several common characteristics:
Most of them are in the hard technology fields, such as humanoid robots, aerospace, new energy materials, and AI +. Their product R & D cycles are long, and the technical barriers are high. They are typical high - investment and high - risk projects.
They are all in the early stage but already have a clear product roadmap and technological breakthroughs. For example, Luming Robotics' humanoid robots are in the pre - mass production stage; Sufang New Energy's material products have been sent for sampling to many leading battery manufacturers. The P300 drone of Weifen Zhifei has been put into use.
Most of their founder teams have top - notch academic backgrounds and industrial experience. Yu Chao of Luming Robotics graduated from Tsinghua University, and the team members are from top universities such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Liu Qi of Sufang New Energy is a professor at the City University of Hong Kong and has worked in a US national laboratory. Dr. Chen Yilun, the CEO of Tashizhihang, is a leader in the field of embodied intelligence and autonomous driving technology and industry in China, and the team consists of scientists.
Except for Tashizhihang, which has a relatively high amount of financing, these companies have a high frequency of financing, and the amount of each single financing is relatively controllable. For example, Luming Robotics has raised nearly 200 million yuan in three rounds of financing within half a year, and other companies have also received financing in the tens of millions of yuan range.
In the past, the investors in the "angel round" were mainly individual angels or small - scale venture capital firms, such as family members, friends, early - stage venture capitalists, or incubators. Nowadays, industrial capital has appeared in the angel round, and it accounts for more than 60% of these transactions. For example, the leading investor in Tashizhihang's financing is Meituan Strategic Investment; Dematic Technology, a listed company on the A - share market, participated in the investment in Luming Robotics; and the Angel+ round of Anhui Yixi Decoration was led by Zhongjing Investment, the leading enterprise in the home furnishing industry.
"Take as much money as you can; never wait."
From the perspective of the investment rhythm of a Series A company, each "+" means the splitting of a large - scale financing. Except for very top - tier projects, many projects cannot achieve the next technological breakthrough with just one single financing. Therefore, it is understandable that there are multiple "+" signs in Series A projects.
However, the financing amount in the "angel round" is usually between 3 million and 15 million yuan, and the valuation is relatively low. If a single sum of funds cannot support the angel - round project, it indicates two situations: either the project is complex enough, or the market funds are becoming tighter.
Wang Yun, the founding managing partner of a VC firm, said, "Compared with Series A projects, the '++' rounds in angel - round projects are more of a makeshift measure."
Firstly, it is to avoid over - valuation. "Some companies will split the traditional Series A financing needs into the Angel++ round and use the combination of 'technology verification + pre - order sales' to reduce the valuation pressure," Wang Yun said.
In terms of equity dilution, the "angel round" has the highest risk but the greatest potential return. Therefore, investors usually require 10% - 25% of the equity. Generally speaking, diluting the equity during the angel round is not conducive to having more initiative in subsequent financing. Secondly, frequent financing will also distract the founder's energy. Financing like the ++ round is only a makeshift measure, not a long - term solution.
The emergence of "++" financing after considering these unfavorable factors is closely related to the current environment.
In 2024, the fundraising amount in the venture capital market decreased by more than 20% year - on - year, and only the management scale of the hard technology track increased against the trend. VC Ding Zhen said, "Companies need to adapt to the changes in the market environment and should not be self - centered. When financing, whether the investors are venture capital funds, industrial capital, local governments, or industrial parks, take as much money as you can. Don't wait."
Entrepreneur Wang Yi, who is engaged in AI - related pet projects, has also heard this view from many investors. His company completed its angel round financing last year, and nearly 20% of the equity was diluted. Since the product is still in the iteration stage and has not been launched, he started planning for the Angel+ round financing. However, during the planning process, considering the future equity structure and more initiative for the founding team, he began to hesitate about this round of financing.
"The current environment is not good. We can only take small steps quickly and take as much money as we can first. Don't affect the company's development rhythm and miss the market opportunity," this is Wang Yi's view.
Moreover, more than one entrepreneur has told me that the investment in the angel round is becoming more and more cautious. "I'll follow the investment if XX invests." This is the investment condition that many investors have told Wang Yi, which gives him the feeling that there is a lack of a leading investor who dares to place a bet in the market.
It is also understandable from the perspective of investment institutions. Although "investing early and in small - scale projects" has become a consensus, early - stage investment is highly risky. Investing in stages and following the institutions with authoritative endorsements has become a rational choice to reduce risks.
"When the market funds are tight, this kind of '++' round financing will become more common. Any project that can get funds now is a good project, regardless of the amount," Ding Zhen believes.
Angel investment was once compared to "a kind of perseverance almost like faith" - "willing to believe what others cannot and willing to bear the failures that ordinary people are reluctant to bear." Nowadays, this kind of faith is taking root in the primary market in a more practical form.
Variant financing models
The emergence of "Angel+" and even "Angel++" undoubtedly reflects a delicate balance in the current venture capital market: investment institutions need to invest early and in small - scale projects while controlling risks; startups need to raise funds for development while preserving their equity.
From a longer - term perspective, these financing rounds with "+" signs are not just makeshift measures but are to preserve the seeds of early - stage innovation in the capital winter.
While the "Angel++" round is frequently appearing in the Chinese primary market, another concept is popular in the Silicon Valley venture capital circle across the ocean - "seed - strapping".
This model means that a startup only takes one round of early - stage financing (usually a seed round or an angel round of 500,000 to 4 million US dollars) and then survives and grows by its own earnings. For example, Zapier only took 1.3 million US dollars in 2012, became profitable in 2014, and now has a valuation of billions of dollars without any further financing.
Of course, this phenomenon is closely related to the transformation of AI technology: AI tools have greatly accelerated the speed from an idea to making money; AI automation enables enterprises to develop rapidly with a small number of employees.
Moreover, the variant model of "skipping the A round" is also emerging in Silicon Valley - after a company has completed its seed round/angel round, it maintains a lean operation, directly skips the traditional A round, and when its annual revenue reaches the tens of millions of US dollars level, it directly goes for a larger - scale B - round or C - round financing.
This kind of financing mentality has also appeared in China. During my communication with entrepreneurs this year, I have felt that all entrepreneurs have a very cautious attitude towards financing. Views such as "After the angel round financing, live on profits", "It's better to have your own cash flow than to rely on financing", and "Don't want to rely on financing to survive" are very common. Moreover, they all prefer industrial capital that can bring orders to accelerate the company's revenue generation.
It can be seen that the "ecological" changes in the global venture capital circle have completely influenced the current entrepreneurs' financing mentality.
At present, when the venture capital market is short of funds, local governments in China are also actively participating in early - stage investment. According to a set of data from CITIC Securities, the total investment amount in the angel round, Pre - A round, and A round has increased from 24.9% in 2019 to 38.7% in the first half of 2024. The investment stage of government - related funds has also shifted from the mid - to - late stage to the start - up and seed stages.
Indeed, in recent years, local governments have established new venture capital funds one after another to further stimulate the vitality of science and technology innovation enterprises. For example, in September 2024, Guangzhou launched an angel mother - fund investment business with a total scale of 10 billion yuan, adopting the "mother - son fund" + direct investment method and focusing on Guangzhou's strategic emerging industries; at the end of 2024, Zhongshan, Guangdong announced the establishment of an angel fund for the biomedical industry; in June 2025, Henan Province proposed to "support state - owned enterprises and leading enterprises in the industrial chain to cooperate in establishing angel funds and merger and acquisition funds in a market - oriented manner", and such news has been frequently reported.
(Wang Yun, Ding Zhen, and Wang Yi in the article are all pen - names)
This article is from the WeChat public account "ChinaMoneyNetwork", author: Riemann. It is published by 36Kr with permission.