Another star IPO is about to be born in Hefei.
Another star unicorn in Hefei is going to go public.
Under the leadership of the post - 90s "genius" He Yu, Guoyi Quantum, valued at over 9.5 billion yuan, recently aimed for the A - share market. If we include Guodun Quantum, the "first quantum technology stock", and Benyuan Quantum, which is in the process of advancing its IPO, Hefei is nurturing more and more quantum technology listed companies.
Now, Hefei has gathered over 80 quantum industry enterprises, forming a complete industrial chain covering the three major fields of quantum communication, computing, and measurement. It also has a well - known "Quantum Avenue".
After years of in - depth development, Hefei, which has been dedicated to its work, is entering its harvest period in the field of quantum technology.
A post - 90s "genius" starts a business and creates a star unicorn in Hefei
Let's turn to the protagonist of the story, the post - 90s "genius" who founded Guoyi Quantum.
After being born in Suining, Sichuan in 1992, He Yu was admitted to the School of the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2009. He studied under Du Jiangfeng, a well - known scientist in the field of quantum technology, and finally completed his undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies in a continuous program.
During his studies, he was shocked after hearing Du Jiangfeng's story about being challenged by foreign suppliers when purchasing high - end scientific instruments. The next day, at the age of only 17, He Yu told his tutor, "I must work on revitalizing domestic scientific instruments."
Arranged by Du Jiangfeng, He Yu participated in scientific research in the research group on one hand and tried to start a business using the school office on the other. With 400,000 yuan in funding from the USTC's entrepreneurship program as the startup capital, his first business venture focused on teaching instruments.
Due to poor product sales, his first business attempt ended in failure. However, He Yu didn't give up on entrepreneurship. After upgrading the products and adjusting the promotion strategy, he led his team to sell over 200,000 sets of products and earned his first pot of gold.
These valuable experiences laid a solid foundation for He Yu to found Guoyi Quantum. To promote the industrialization of quantum measurement technology and the localization of high - end scientific instruments, with USTC and Du Jiangfeng taking technical shares, he and Rong Xing, a teacher at USTC, and others invested to found Guoyi Quantum in Hefei in December 2016.
"Quantum precision measurement technology is a technology that uses quantum technology to measure physical quantities with higher resolution and accuracy. Quantum precision measurement instruments are like a ruler for the microscopic world," He Yu once said in an interview with the media. He also said that traditional large - scale sensors cannot measure the parameters of tiny individuals, but quantum sensors can perform precise measurements on cells and so on.
After the company was established, Guoyi Quantum began to promote the commercialization of electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer technology and launched the first domestic commercial X - band electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer in 2018, successfully breaking the technological monopoly of foreign brands. This product is exactly the scientific instrument mentioned in Du Jiangfeng's story.
After that, they successively launched products such as the world's first commercial low - temperature scanning nitrogen - vacancy probe microscope and the world's first AI electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer with a signal - to - noise ratio of 10,000:1, and applied them in fields such as quantum technology, materials science, chemistry and chemical engineering, biomedicine, and advanced manufacturing.
After 9 years of development, the company has delivered over a thousand high - end scientific instruments and has been recognized by many customers such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, the University of Science and Technology of China, the University of Oxford, Columbia University, the National University of Singapore, BOE, BYD, and CATL. It has finally grown into a star unicorn in Hefei.
Hillhouse and IDG place bets, valuation exceeds 9.5 billion yuan
Along the way, due to factors such as policy support, a strong team, and high - quality products, Guoyi Quantum has won the recognition of many investors.
In August 2016, the State Council issued the "13th Five - Year Plan for National Scientific and Technological Innovation", listing quantum communication and quantum computing as key breakthrough areas. Four months later, Shuhua Technology, which controls the joint - venture subsidiary Reader (Shenzhen) Media under Reader Media, participated in the establishment of Guoyi Quantum.
After Guoyi Quantum launched the first domestic commercial X - band electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer, iFlytek, Kexun Venture Capital, and USTC Guochuang became shareholders of the company in December of the same year. As time passed, Xuancheng Huohua Venture Capital also invested in them.
In December 2019, the "Outline of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integration Development Plan" was issued, which mentioned accelerating the cultivation and layout of future industries in key fields such as quantum information. One year later, Guoyi Quantum became Hillhouse's first project in the quantum technology track. The investors also included Tongchuang Weiye, Cornerstone Fund, and China Merchants Securities.
In Hillhouse's view, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation represented by the "Second Quantum Revolution" is emerging. As one of the leading teams in China engaged in quantum precision measurement and quantum computing, Guoyi Quantum has strong R & D and product engineering capabilities and has achieved the industrialization of quantum precision measurement technology.
By that time, the company had also launched several products such as the world's first quantum diamond atomic force microscope and the diamond quantum computing teaching machine, and received many positive reviews from the market. With customer recognition, Guoyi Quantum's sales contracts exceeded 200 million yuan in 2021, and it also achieved overseas deliveries.
Since 2021, "quantum information" has appeared in the "14th Five - Year Plan" and the government work report for the first time. Also starting from this year, the Ministry of Education officially included the quantum information discipline in undergraduate education to accelerate the cultivation of talent echelons in the quantum field. In December of the same year, Guoyi Quantum completed a Series C financing of hundreds of millions of yuan.
The list of investors in this round of financing was large. In addition to new shareholders such as the National Venture Capital Investment Fund, CAS Capital, IDG Capital, Hefei Industrial Investment, Songhe Capital, and Qianhai Mother Fund, there were also old shareholders such as iFlytek Venture Capital, USTC Guochuang, Hillhouse Venture Capital, Tongchuang Weiye, Boshi Innovation, and Xuancheng Huohua Venture Capital.
After that, a series of quantum - related policies were issued, which strongly promoted the industrialization process of quantum technology and also enabled Guoyi Quantum to enter the fast lane of development. Looking at the prospectus, during the reporting period from 2022 to June 2025, their revenues reached 151 million yuan, 399 million yuan, 501 million yuan, and 171 million yuan respectively.
Since they are still in the stage of realizing the industrialization of new technologies, at the initial stage of expanding the product line, increasing sales volume, and achieving economies of scale, and with relatively large R & D and sales investments, Guoyi Quantum is still in a loss state. The cumulative loss in the three - and - a - half - year reporting period exceeded 400 million yuan.
In May 2025, at the request of relevant organizational departments, Du Jiangfeng transferred his shares to Chengdu Jiaozi Industrial Fund, Hefei Dunqin, TCL Venture Capital, Guxin Assets, Shengkun Investment, Loongson Venture Capital, Dingxing Quantum, Xingtai Capital, Xinding Capital, Guohai Innovation Capital, Hillhouse Venture Capital, etc. through public listing and transfer on the Anhui Property Rights Exchange Center, and finally exited Guoyi Quantum.
Calculated at a transfer price of 328.13 yuan per share, Guoyi Quantum's valuation exceeded 9.5 billion yuan. Before the listing, He Yu and Rong Xing jointly held 34.87% of the voting rights of the company. This also means that He Yu, who holds more than 8.18% of the shares, now has a net worth of over 700 million yuan.
Hefei, mass - producing quantum technology IPOs
In the field of quantum technology in China, Hefei is the biggest winner.
Counting Guodun Quantum, the "first quantum technology stock", and Guoyi Quantum and Benyuan Quantum, which are advancing their IPOs, Hefei is nurturing more and more quantum technology listed companies.
Since these three companies focus on the three major sub - tracks of the quantum industry, namely quantum communication, quantum precision measurement, and quantum computing, they are hailed as the "Three Quantum Swordsmen" in the industry.
It is under the leadership of the "Three Quantum Swordsmen" that Hefei High - tech Zone can develop the entire quantum industry simultaneously when laying out the quantum industry. Now, there are not only over 80 quantum industry enterprises gathered locally, but also a well - known "Quantum Avenue".
This achievement is due to Hefei's years of in - depth development in the quantum industry. Playing an important role in this is the "Quantum GDP" - three leading quantum technology academicians from USTC, Guo Guangcan, Du Jiangfeng, and Pan Jianwei.
Back in 1984, after returning to China, Guo Guangcan hosted the first national academic conference on quantum optics. In 2001, he won China's first "973" project on quantum information technology and finally assembled a team including Peng Kunchi, Sun Changpu, Pan Jianwei, and Du Jiangfeng, who later became academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 2003, China's first quantum computing research group was officially established in an idle classroom at USTC. Six years later, the teacher - student team of Professor Pan Jianwei at USTC founded Anhui Quantum Communication Technology Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Guodun Quantum and the first domestic quantum technology industrialization enterprise.
Shortly after the successful launch of Mozi, the world's first quantum science experimental satellite designed by Pan Jianwei's team, Guoyi Quantum, co - founded by Du Jiangfeng, was successfully established in Hefei. In September 2017, Guo Guangcan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Guo Guoping, a professor at USTC, founded Benyuan Quantum, the first domestic quantum computing enterprise.
Over the years, Guodun Quantum, Guoyi Quantum, and Benyuan Quantum have grown into leading enterprises in the field of quantum technology. It is the strong support from Hefei and USTC and the numerous helps provided by investment institutions such as Legend Capital, Zhongke Chuangxing, and Hillhouse Venture Capital that have enabled the local area to have a large number of quantum technology star enterprises.
In He Yu's view, who has chosen Hefei for all his three entrepreneurial attempts, besides the fact that his alma mater is here, Hefei and USTC have a unique quality - they can endure loneliness. Although artificial intelligence and quantum technology are very popular now, Hefei and USTC started working on them and have persisted until now when these technologies were ignored many years ago.
After years of cultivation, Hefei has finally entered the harvest period in the field of quantum technology. According to the local plan, they will also strive to build dual "high - grounds" for quantum technology and the quantum industry. As the leading area for the future quantum technology industry in Anhui Province, Hefei High - tech Zone is striding forward on the "Quantum Avenue".
References:
1. "Twenty Years of Quantum Computing in China", Guangming Daily
2. "Three Questions about the Quantum Avenue in Hefei High - tech Zone", China High - Tech Industry Guide
3. "He Yu: From a Young Talent to an Entrepreneurial Pioneer, Lighting the Way of Innovation with Quantum Technology", the Graduate Students' Association of USTC
4. "He Yu: Boundless Future, Building Instruments for the Country", Chinese Youth Magazine
This article is from the WeChat official account "Dongshisi Tiao Capital" (ID: DsstCapital). The author is Lu Zhigao, and it is published by 36Kr with authorization.