5 billion, the largest financing in the new year is born
The AI circle remains in shock.
The investment community has learned that Jieyue Xingchen has officially completed its Series B+ financing round, raising over 5 billion RMB, breaking the record for the largest single - round financing in China's large - model industry in the past 12 months. Participating institutions include industrial investors such as Shanghai State - owned Investment Leading Fund, China Life Equity Investment, Pudong Venture Capital, Xuhui Capital, Wuxi Liangxi Fund, Xiamen ITG, and Huaqin Technology. Existing shareholders such as Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners, and Morningside Venture Capital have further increased their investment.
What the outside world may not know is that Jieyue Xingchen was founded in Shanghai in 2023. So far, it has released over 30 large models and is regarded by the outside world as the "champion in multi - modality competition". Also today, the company welcomes a leading figure in the AI field to take the helm - Yin Qi, the current chairman of Qianli Technology, who officially assumes the position of chairman of Jieyue Xingchen. He will lead Jieyue Xingchen to fire the first shot in the large - model breakout race.
Jieyue Xingchen has grown into a super unicorn in just over two years, showing an astonishing growth rate. In the past month, Zhipu AI and MiniMax queued up for listing, both creating a market value of over 100 billion. We are witnessing the magnificent AI era in China.
A Gathering of Investors
The Largest Financing in the Venture Capital Circle in the New Year
This scene is highly indicative.
Let's start with some background. According to Sina Finance statistics, AI model - layer companies completed a total of 22 investments in 2025, with a total disclosed amount of 9.416 billion RMB, showing a decline to varying degrees compared with 2024. Meanwhile, large - scale financings, which were common in the past, are now rare. In 2025, only 3 large - model companies had a single - round financing scale of over 1 billion RMB, namely MiniMax, which completed its IPO at the beginning of this year, Zhipu, and Moonlit Side, which announced its financing on the last day of last year.
Obviously, VC/PE investors have become very cautious. Internet giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, which were once known for their aggressive investment styles, have now shifted their focus to internal large - model R & D. The number of their external investments in large - model enterprises decreased significantly last year.
All these facts prove a reality: the financing in the large - model industry has cooled down, and the industry shows an obvious "Matthew effect". In this context, Jieyue Xingchen's ability to complete such a significant financing is even more precious, and it also proves once again that funds are flowing towards the "top four foundation models", and the competitive landscape of the leading echelon in the large - model industry has been set.
A common view in the venture capital circle is that with the rapid rise of DeepSeek in the past year, investors have realized that the foundation large - model has not reached its ceiling. The industry has entered a stage of slow elimination, and at this time, it is necessary to bet on high - quality targets.
So, what is a high - quality target? Currently, investors value most the self - hematopoietic ability of large - model enterprises. Because in any business, it will ultimately return to the essence of commerce: speaking with orders. This has been reflected in the listing popularity of MiniMax and Zhipu. Therefore, whoever can explore a sustainable and high - quality commercialization path first will lead the way in this breakout race.
Let's turn our attention back to Jieyue Xingchen's financing. This may be the most diversified and balanced investment lineup in the large - model financing in recent years. Different from previous large - model enterprises, which are either surrounded by US - dollar funds or mostly deal with local state - owned assets, Jieyue Xingchen's list of investors includes state - owned assets, industrial capital, strategic investment institutions, insurance capital institutions, and leading market - oriented financial VCs.
For example, China Life Equity Investment, an insurance capital with long - term funds, appears in this lineup. It is a professional private equity investment platform under China Life Insurance and the first private equity investment fund approved to be established with insurance funds. Insurance capital has always been strict in risk assessment and has extremely high investment thresholds. Every investment it makes attracts attention.
There is also Xiamen ITG. Its largest shareholder is Xiamen ITG Co., Ltd. It is the first time for Xiamen ITG to invest in a large - model enterprise. As we all know, every investment by local state - owned asset institutions is closely related to the local industry, and behind it is a competition for emerging industries.