Earning 700-fold profits: Unveiling the first investor of Moore Threads

This year, multiple high - profile IPOs have emerged in the domestic venture capital market.

Mixue Bingcheng listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 3rd; Ba Wang Cha Ji went public on the NASDAQ on April 17th; and Insta360 successfully listed on the STAR Market on June 11th. These projects not only performed brilliantly in the secondary market but also generated substantial book returns for primary investors.

The latest data may refresh the return list in the venture capital circle. Moore Threads, which is about to enter the capital market, is expected to become the project with the highest return in the 2025 venture capital market.

Based on the post - investment valuation of Moore Threads in the Pre - IPO round, the earliest investor, a fund named "Peixian Qianyao", has already achieved a 667 - fold return. Calculated based on the proposed issuance market value of 40 billion yuan, its book return multiple exceeds 700 times. In a bull market situation in the secondary market, with the continuous heating up of the semiconductor and computing power sectors, Moore Threads may create a return of over 3000 times for the earliest investor.

This achievement may be one of the highest exit multiples created by RMB funds. Even when compared with the myths created by US dollar funds during the Internet era in the past 25 years, it is no less impressive. "Peixian Qianyao" has not only created a financial miracle but also set the investment upper limit for local investors in the dual narratives of "technological transformation" and "domestic substitution".

So, who exactly is Peixian Qianyao?

01. Who was Moore's first investor?

In September 2020, three months after its establishment, Moore Threads completed its first - round financing. The investors were "Peixian Qianyao" and "Shenzhen Minghao". Business registration information shows that "Peixian Qianyao" has a registered capital of 1.9048 million yuan and has only invested in Moore Threads. "Shenzhen Minghao" has a registered capital of 68.0848 million yuan and has also only invested in Moore Threads.

The investment situation of these two funds at that time was disclosed in the "Legal Opinion of Jingtian & Gongcheng Law Firm on the Initial Public Offering of RMB Common Stocks of Moore Threads Intelligent Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Listing on the STAR Market".

Peixian Qianyao invested 1.9 million yuan at a pre - investment valuation of 10 million yuan and a price of 1 yuan per registered capital. Shenzhen Minghao completed its investment at a pre - investment valuation of 420 million yuan and a price of 35.28 yuan per registered capital.

It is said that Peixian Qianyao was able to get such a low price because it introduced a large - scale investment from Shenzhen Minghao to Moore at the beginning of the team's entrepreneurship when everything was in its infancy. Therefore, as the earliest external investor, it was given a preferential price of 1 yuan per registered capital (see the table below).

Image source: "Opinion"

According to the prospectus, before the listing, Peixian Qianyao still held 16.9987 million shares of Moore, accounting for 4.2494% of the shares (before the issuance). Excluding the employee shareholding platform and the founder Zhang Jianzhong, it is the fourth - largest external shareholder of the company.

Let's calculate how much money the earliest investor, Peixian Qianyao, has earned from its 1.9 million - yuan investment over five years.

First, look at the situation before the listing. In 2024, Moore Threads completed its pre - IPO round of financing, with a post - investment valuation of about 29.845 billion yuan. After this round, Peixian Qianyao held 4.2494% of the shares, and the valuation of its shares was 1.268 billion yuan, a 667 - fold increase.

Then, look at this listing. According to the prospectus, Moore Threads plans to raise 8 billion yuan. The total number of publicly issued shares is not less than 44.44758 million and not more than 100.007054 million, accounting for no less than 10% and no more than 20% of the total share capital after the issuance.

If we calculate based on the maximum number of issued shares of 100.007054 million, the company's market value is about 40 billion yuan, and the price per share is about 80 yuan. Based on this calculation, the value of Peixian Qianyao's shares is 1.36 billion yuan, a 715 - fold increase.

If we calculate based on the minimum number of issued shares of 44.44758 million, the company's market value is about 80 billion yuan, and the price per share is about 180 yuan. Based on this calculation, the value of Peixian Qianyao's shares is 3.06 billion yuan, a 1610 - fold increase.

Image source: Prospectus

This does not take into account the fluctuations in the secondary market. If we follow the current trend of a technology bull market, especially the continuous heating up of sectors such as semiconductors and computing power, a Moore Threads with a market value of 150 billion yuan corresponds to a position of about 5.736 billion yuan for Peixian Qianyao, a nearly 3019 - fold increase.

If we look at this year, it means that the return brought by Moore Threads to Peixian Qianyao far exceeds the 470 - fold return brought by Ba Wang Cha Ji to XVC (XVC Fund ll LP), and it will also probably exceed the 853 - fold return brought by Insta360 to its early investor IDG (Earn Ace Limited) (both calculated based on the closing price on the first day). Even when compared with the classic investment cases of US dollar funds in the past two decades, this investment by Peixian Qianyao stands out.

Of course, the above data is not precise. Firstly, Peixian Qianyao completed two equity transfers in 2021. In March of that year, it transferred shares to Moore Threads' employee shareholding platform free of charge according to the agreement. In October of the same year, it transferred shares to Guosheng Capital at a price of 253.6 yuan per registered capital, but the total number of transferred shares was not disclosed, and the value of this part was not calculated. Secondly, the final issuance price of the company has not been confirmed, and its performance after listing is also uncertain. However, a return multiple of over 700 times is highly likely.

02. The investors behind Peixian Qianyao

So, the question is, who exactly is Peixian Qianyao, which has created a return of over 700 times?

Partner information shows that there are three individual LPs and one institutional entity behind Peixian Qianyao. They are Yang Bin (32.72%), Zhou Qi (31.25%), Shanghai Zhushen (23.53%), and Huang Bohao (12.5%).

Image source: CVSource data from ChinaVenture

Public information shows that Yang Bin graduated from Wuhan University's Computer Application major. In the early years, he worked in securities firms such as Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Securities Company and the Shenzhen Branch of Guohai Securities. In 2017, Yang Bin founded the investment company Guangzhou Ruizhan, which has invested in companies such as Ultra - Silicon Semiconductor and Wofeng Agriculture.

Huang Bohao graduated from the Department of Finance at the University of Lancaster in the UK and has worked at Junhe Capital and Baoli Tianze (Shenzhen) Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.

In 2011, Huang Bohao founded Lanqiao Holdings. According to the official website, it is an investment company focusing on leveraged buyouts and industrial integration. From 2011 to 2016, it completed 38 private equity investments and mergers and acquisitions, with a total transaction value of over 26 billion yuan. Well - known cases include direct investments and mergers and acquisitions integration of listed companies such as EAGLE, Atlantic, Yantai Wanhua (Wanhua Co., Ltd.), Hengshun Vinegar Industry, Sichuan Jiuzhou, Shengtun Mining, and Gree Electric Appliance. According to its official disclosure, from 2011 to 2016, the annual compound return rate was as high as 87.3%.

It is worth mentioning that in the shareholder information of Guangzhou Ruizhan, Yang Bin holds 51% of the shares, and Huang Bohao holds 39%. Similarly, Yang Bin's name also appears in the shareholder information of Lanqiao Holdings. Huang Bohao holds 49.95% of the equity in Lanqiao Holdings, and Yang Bin holds 7.35%. It can be seen that the two have a close relationship, and their joint investment in Moore Threads is not accidental.

Another individual shareholder of Peixian Qianyao, Zhou Qi, is a partner of Shanda Capital.

Shanda Capital's official website describes Zhou Qi as follows: Zhou Qi has more than 10 years of industrial investment experience. He has founded multiple enterprises, with businesses covering trade, electronics, technology, manufacturing, and processing. He has successively invested in projects such as Gemai Technology, Climbing Brothers, Changguang Satellite, Moore Threads, and Lianyun Technology.

The only institutional entity of Peixian Qianyao, "Shanghai Zhushen", is 97% owned by Chen Bolin. Public information shows that Chen Bolin is the actual controller of Tuofeng Investment. Tuofeng Investment has also increased its investment in Moore Threads multiple times in 2023 and 2024.

So, behind Peixian Qianyao, Yang Bin, Huang Bohao, Zhou Qi, and Shanghai Zhushen (Chen Bolin) have reaped the sweetest fruits of Moore Threads.

In addition, the fund "Shenzhen Minghao" introduced by Peixian Qianyao to Moore Threads is also backed by Shanda Capital, where Zhou Qi works. The managing partner of Shenzhen Minghao, "Yangzhou Juxing", is the Shanda Capital team, and one of the LPs, Yancheng South New Area Big Data Industry Fund, is also managed by Shanda Capital. Therefore, Shanda Capital is actually the earliest institutional investor in Moore Threads.

From 2021 to 2025, Shenzhen Minghao also had multiple equity transfers, which will not be detailed here. Just to mention that before the listing, this fund is still the largest external shareholder, holding 19.9227 million shares. If we calculate based on the post - listing valuation of 40 billion yuan, the current market value of Shenzhen Minghao's shares is as high as 1.594 billion yuan, a more than 23 - fold increase.

Of course, there is still a question of how investors such as Yang Bin, Huang Bohao, and Zhou Qi were able to invest in Moore Threads at the first time. These are stories beyond the public information.

However, there is a clue: Zhou Qi has a close relationship with Shenzhen Colorful Technology. He is an individual investor in related enterprises of Colorful. Colorful started cooperating with NVIDIA in 2000 and became a core AIC partner of NVIDIA in 2010. Zhang Jianzhong, the founder of Moore, served as the global vice - president and general manager of the Greater China region at NVIDIA from April 2006 to September 2020. Maybe their story started here? Of course, it is also possible that it started earlier.

Regardless of when it started, the investment in Moore Threads is definitely not just an amazing financial return. Betting 1.9 million yuan requires connections, opportunities, and courage. To achieve hundreds of times of returns, one needs to ride on the wave. The convergence of the waves of technological transformation and domestic substitution has given local investors a gift of the era.

Reference materials:

1. Prospectus for the Initial Public Offering of Shares of Moore Threads and Listing on the STAR Market (Draft for Review)

2. "Legal Opinion of Jingtian & Gongcheng Law Firm on the Initial Public Offering of RMB Common Stocks of Moore Threads Intelligent Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Listing on the STAR Market"

3. Lanqiao Holdings, About Lanqiao Assets, October 14, 2016.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Beyond the J Curve", written by Yang Boyu and published by 36Kr with authorization.