January VC/PE Report: The Number of Investment Deals Exceeds 1,000 Again. Semiconductors and Artificial Intelligence Are the Hottest Sectors.

"Extend your reading with data." This issue of Beyond the J Curve presents the VC/PE Market Report for January 2026. The fundraising scale has increased by over 80% year-on-year, the investment market as a whole has continued to heat up, and artificial intelligence has been highly sought after in both the fundraising and investment markets. For more details, see below:

Key Findings

• The number of newly established funds decreased slightly month-on-month, but the fundraising scale still increased by over 80% year-on-year.
• The activity of institutions increased year-on-year. From the perspective of fund arrival, funds that completed fundraising were more focused on the artificial intelligence field.
• The investment market as a whole continued to heat up, with the number of financing deals exceeding 1,000 and the financing scale remaining high.
• Investment in the electronic information industry led, with the number of transactions in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence sub - fields both exceeding 100.
• Small - value and large - value transactions increased, while medium - scale transactions contracted.

Part One: VC/PE Market Fundraising Analysis

· Number of Newly Established Funds

In January 2026, a total of 878 new funds were established in the Chinese VC/PE market, 378 fewer than the previous month, a 30.1% month - on - month decrease. Compared with the same period last year, the number increased by 404, a 85.23% year - on - year increase.

In this period, a total of 667 institutions participated in setting up funds. Among them, 80% of the institutions established 1 fund, 13% of the institutions completed the establishment of 2 funds, and 7% of the institutions completed the establishment of 3 or more funds. In the same period last year, the proportion of institutions establishing 2 or more funds was 12.3%, indicating that the activity of institutions increased year - on - year again.

Figure 1: Number of newly established funds from January 2025 to January 2026

Figure 2: Distribution of the number of institutions establishing different numbers of funds in January 2026

· Regional Situation of Newly Established Funds

In January 2026, newly established funds were set up in a total of 26 provincial - level administrative regions (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), with a more widespread distribution. Among them, Zhejiang Province ranked first with 278 newly established funds, Jiangsu Province ranked second with 150 newly established funds, and Shandong Province ranked third with 83 newly established funds. Overall, the funds were more concentrated in certain regions, and the difference in regional activity became more significant.

Figure 3: Top 15 provincial - level regions for newly established funds in January 2026

Figure 4: Top 15 municipal - level regions for newly established funds in January 2026

· Situation of Newly Established Funds and Completed Fundraising

In January 2026, the "giant ship" jointly built by national - level financial forces and local state - owned assets, Ningbo Yongyuan Science and Technology Innovation Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), was officially established. The fund scale exceeded 6 billion yuan, and Ningbo, a fertile ground for science and technology innovation in the Yangtze River Delta, once again welcomed a wave of capital. The fund completed the filing with the Asset Management Association of China in the same month. The partners included ABC Capital Management Co., Ltd., Ningbo Yongyuan Private Equity Fund, Zhejiang Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Equity Investment Fund, and Ningbo Yongyuan Chuangxiang Partnership.

Table 1: Overview of key newly established funds in the Chinese VC/PE market in January 2026

On January 6, 2026, the Orient Jafu National Small and Medium - sized Enterprise Development Sub - fund with a target total scale of 2 billion yuan successfully completed the first close of 1.6 billion yuan and has fully launched its investment operations. The fund mainly invests in small and medium - sized enterprises in fields such as advanced manufacturing and new materials, cutting - edge technology, and life sciences. The fund officially started its investment operations in the fourth quarter of 2025, and the invested projects involve strategic emerging industries and future industries such as AI edge chips, AI Agents, core components of robots, and new - generation semiconductor equipment.

Table 2: Overview of key funds that completed fundraising in the Chinese VC/PE market in January 2026

Part Two: VC/PE Market Investment Analysis

· Investment Frequency and Investment Scale

In January 2026, the number of investment cases was 1,118, a 10% month - on - month decrease and a 62% year - on - year increase; the investment scale was 132.443 billion yuan, a 11% month - on - month increase and a 71% year - on - year increase. Overall, the number of investment transactions exceeded 1,000 for consecutive periods, and the investment scale has exceeded 100 billion yuan for nearly half a year, significantly higher than the average level of the past year. Driven by the continuous expansion of the number of transactions and the steady increase in the investment scale, the improvement in the activity of the transaction side and the strengthening of the allocation of funds on the capital side have jointly promoted the market to shift from a periodic adjustment to a structural recovery, laying a solid foundation for the continuous recovery in 2026.

Figure 5: Investment situation in the Chinese VC/PE market from January 2025 to January 2026

· Number and Scale of Investment Transactions in Hotspot Regions

In terms of the number of transactions in January 2026, Guangdong Province led the country with 194 financing deals, Jiangsu Province ranked second with 181 financing deals, and Zhejiang Province and Shanghai, as the second - tier regions, had 147 and 139 financing deals respectively. In terms of transaction amount, Shanghai ranked first in attracting capital, with an investment scale of 30.446 billion yuan. Guangdong Province and Beijing had financing amounts of 19.321 billion yuan and 17.863 billion yuan respectively, ranking second and third.

Figure 6: Investment overview of active regions in the Chinese VC/PE market in January 2026

· Investment Heat in Hotspot Industries

In January 2026, the electronic information industry continued to lead with 354 investment transactions and a financing scale of 47.449 billion yuan. The advanced manufacturing and medical health industries, as the second - tier industries, ranked second and third respectively with 185 and 175 transactions. In terms of sub - fields, the number of transactions in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence fields both exceeded 100, and the investment heat in medical devices, biomedicine, and new materials was slightly lower. Compared with the same period last year, the transaction activity in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence fields increased.

Table 3: Various industries and some sub - fields in the Chinese VC/PE market in January 2026

· Investment Rounds

In terms of the breakdown of investment rounds, the Series A led the market with 431 cases, accounting for 38.6%, and a financing scale of 28.755 billion yuan, accounting for 21.7%. Compared with last year, the activity of early - stage investment transactions increased, and the growth of the transaction scale in the growth stage and after listing was particularly significant.

Table 4: Overview of the number and scale of transactions in each investment round in the Chinese VC/PE market in January 2026

· Breakdown of Investment Transaction Scale by Magnitude

In terms of the breakdown of the scale of cases with actually disclosed amounts, transactions in the tens of millions of yuan level accounted for nearly half of the market. Compared with the same period last year, the number of small - value transactions of 50 million yuan or less and large - value transactions of over 1 billion yuan increased significantly. The market's enthusiasm for early - stage layout in innovative tracks was high, and strategic financing and merger and acquisition transactions of top - quality projects and mature enterprises still attracted capital. The trend of funds concentrating on top - tier targets was further strengthened. In contrast, medium - scale transactions contracted again, and growth - stage enterprises still faced certain pressure on the financing side. The restoration of market confidence in medium - scale projects was relatively lagging. There was still a structural imbalance in the market during the recovery process, and it would still take time to improve the financing environment for growth - stage enterprises.

Figure 7: Magnitude situation of financing transaction scales in the Chinese VC/PE market in January 2026

· Key Investment Transaction Cases

At the beginning of 2026, Jieyue Xingchen, an AI basic model company established less than three years ago and one of the "Six Little Tigers of Large Models", welcomed the "three fires" at the beginning of the year, making simultaneous efforts in the three fields of financing, management, and technology, showing a strong development momentum.

The first fire: It completed a Series B+ financing of 5 billion yuan, setting a new record for the highest single - round financing in the Chinese large - model track in the past 12 months. The list of participating institutions in this round of financing was strong, including industrial investors such as Shanghai State - owned Investment Leading Fund, China Life Equity Investment, and Pudong Venture Capital. Old shareholders such as Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners, and Matrix Partners also continued to follow - up invest. Light Source Capital served as the financial advisor. It is reported that all the funds raised in this round will be invested in basic model research and development, focusing on building a world - class base model to accelerate the implementation of the AI+ terminal strategy.

The second fire: On the same day, the company officially announced a major personnel adjustment. Yin Qi officially