VC/PE firms are engaging in a fierce talent scramble.

The market has been sending out positive signals frequently. The long - awaited busyness and restlessness are quietly returning, and even headhunters are struggling to cope.

“I've been extremely busy lately. The demand from institutional clients has skyrocketed, especially for investment and fundraising positions,” revealed a headhunter specializing in the financial sector. In stark contrast to the situation a year ago when many headhunters abandoned VC/PE business, high - quality candidates have become scarce now.

The enthusiasm of the market can also be seen from the recruitment pace: “Some institutions are so eager that they can finalize a candidate within a week, which was unimaginable in the past.”

This recruitment boom is not limited to investment and fundraising positions. The demand for middle - and back - office positions has also increased significantly. The US dollar IR position has once again become highly sought - after. Many dual - currency funds and even RMB funds have started to actively deploy US dollar IR in preparation for a new round of US dollar fund raising.

Headhunters Are Swamped

Last year, many headhunters left due to the shrinking recruitment demand in the primary market. Some comprehensive headhunting companies even abandoned business in this field. However, since the beginning of 2025, the situation has reversed.

“The market was really negative at the beginning of last year, but it's different this year. There are many new demands for fundraising and investment positions,” observed Ava, a senior headhunter. Compared with the same period last year, the changes perceived by headhunters are particularly obvious, and they have started to get busy.

On recruitment websites and social platforms, recruitment news in the primary market has been frequently emerging. Recruitment information such as a leading institution recruiting for investment positions and a CVC institution expanding its team to recruit MDs has been constantly popping up.

In addition, many state - owned institutions have also publicly released recruitment information, covering multiple cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangdong.

Some headhunters told us that the recruitment demand for investment positions has increased by about 30% year - on - year. In terms of direction, institutions generally focus on cutting - edge technology fields such as AI, the robotics industry chain, intelligent hardware, and low - altitude economy, and they are also showing great interest in future industries such as quantum, aerospace, nuclear fusion, brain science, and deep - sea technology.

In terms of employment criteria, a solid background in science, engineering, and computer science is still the top choice, but now more emphasis is placed on candidates' in - depth understanding of niche fields and independent project exploration ability. All of this is against the backdrop of institutions' unprecedented investment pressure - “Some VC funds now require project closings every month, and the pace is very fast.”

This busy atmosphere is not limited to the recruitment market. Investors have also felt a significant increase in work intensity.

“I've been really running around non - stop lately, looking at projects, conducting due diligence, and attending investment decision - making meetings. The team is basically overloaded,” sighed a partner of a Beijing venture capital fund about the recent busyness.

According to him, “It can take as little as one month from project contact to decision - making.” This long - lost sense of acceleration is permeating the current primary market. Institutions are no longer just watching; they are already on the way to “making moves,” and their enthusiasm for looking at projects is significantly higher than last year.

This kind of busyness is not an isolated case. According to our observation, early - stage investment institutions have been particularly active since this year. In the financing market, stories of completing two rounds of financing and raising hundreds of millions of yuan in just half a year have started to happen again, and the pace is like going back to ten years ago.

“We invested in 23 projects last year, but by the end of this year, the total number of projects we invest in will be more than three times that of last year,” said Zhu Xiaocheng, the managing partner of Inno Angel Fund. When asked how to maintain accuracy in high - frequency investments, the core method he shared was: “We have been tracking industries for a long time, conducting in - depth research, and constantly updating our industry knowledge. We don't invest just because it's hot; instead, we seize the right opportunity and continuously invest in leading projects.”

Meanwhile, US dollar funds have become active again.

US Dollar Funds Are Active Again

In the past few years, affected by multiple factors, foreign investors' willingness to invest in China was once sluggish. Now, the continuous release of policy dividends and breakthroughs in local technological innovation are significantly boosting market confidence.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been continuous reports about the return of foreign LPs in the market. Partners of many institutions said: “This year, we have been intensively receiving foreign family offices, and we can clearly feel that foreign LPs recognize China's technological innovation strength and asset value.”

From the recruitment perspective, since Q2 of 2025, many US dollar funds or dual - currency funds have restarted the recruitment of key positions that have been frozen for three years, mainly IR positions. These institutions' future in - depth development plans mainly cover regions such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Among them, many RMB funds have also added US dollar IR positions and plan to raise US dollar funds.

Recently, from the perspective of market perception and data, US dollar funds have indeed witnessed positive changes, and many institutions have announced the completion of dual - currency fund raising.

In just the past two days, institutions such as MONOLITH and Source Code Capital have intensively announced the completion of dual - currency fund raising.

Foreign LPs' attitude towards the Chinese market has changed significantly, and US dollar funds have returned to the public eye.

Recently, Zheng Fang, the founder and chief investment officer of Beijing Castleridge Investment Management Co., Ltd., pointed out in an interview with FOFWEKLY: “Foreign LPs' enthusiasm for China has increased compared with the past, especially in fields where China has shown advancedness.”

In his view, Chinese assets are generally undervalued, and their value in fields with strong competitiveness such as manufacturing and the huge consumer market needs to be re - evaluated.

Zhu Xiaohu, the managing partner of GSR Ventures, said that after 20 years of technological cycle baptism, Chinese entrepreneurs and technology companies have global competitiveness comparable to that of the United States, and the new generation of entrepreneurs is taking faster and more mature steps towards internationalization.

The venture capital circle is back on the fast track.

Conclusion

Currently, we are in an unprecedented wave of technological innovation. Although challenges still remain, the positive turn of the market cannot be ignored.

There is no doubt that the market is recovering, and VCs are really busy. But behind the busyness is the in - depth participation in industrial development and the accurate grasp of the innovation wave. In the current situation where heat and bubbles, opportunities and risks coexist, those investors who are busy in an orderly manner are shaping the future industrial landscape together with entrepreneurs.

This article is from the WeChat official account “FOFWEEKLY”. Author: FOFWEEKLY. Republished by 36Kr with permission.