This year, the motorcycle racing track has become popular. HSG has increased its investment in a startup team from XPeng Motors.
In the motorcycle circle, Zhangxue Motorcycle is undoubtedly the most eye - catching "phenomenal" presence in the past two years.
From an unknown startup brand to defeating international giants such as Ducati and Yamaha in two consecutive rounds on the WSBK (World Superbike Championship) track, Zhangxue Motorcycle has completed a counter - attack from "grassroots entrepreneurship" to "world champion" in just two years.
In the venture capital circle, the motorcycle industry was previously often labeled as "traditional manufacturing" and "niche market", and the investment enthusiasm was far less than that of emerging sectors such as new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence.
However, the success of Zhangxue Motorcycle has let capital see new possibilities in the motorcycle industry: when Chinese manufacturing launches an impact on the high - end market with hardcore technology, this track with a huge consumer base contains great growth potential.
01
Capital Influx: The Motorcycle Track
Explosive Growth in Financing Scale
The latest data from IT Juzi intuitively shows the capital's enthusiasm for the motorcycle track:
From 2024 to the first quarter of 2026, the total financing in the domestic motorcycle track has approached 2.7 billion yuan. Among them, the single - quarter financing in the first quarter of 2026 reached about 800 million yuan, exceeding the total financing scale of the whole year in 2025.
This means that in just three months, the capital flowing into the motorcycle track has exceeded the sum of the previous whole year.
It is worth noting that the 90 million yuan Series A financing obtained by Zhangxue Motorcycle only accounts for about 3.3% of this wave of capital.
This shows that the success of Zhangxue Motorcycle is not entirely accidental, but a microcosm of the rise and warming of the entire track.
More and more capital has begun to realize that the motorcycle industry is at a critical node of a new round of transformation. New consumer demands and technological changes are giving birth to a group of innovative startups.
Domestic motorcycle startups that received financing in the past year. Source: IT Juzi
02
Players and Capital Camps: Layout of Star Institutions,
Local State - owned Assets and Industrial Capital
Taking the motorcycle enterprises that received investment in the past year as an example, let's see what kind of companies they are and what the pattern of their investors is?
Sequoia Entered the Motorcycle Track in 2017 and Increased Investment This Year
In the venture capital circle, Sequoia China is known as the "track catcher", and its presence can be seen in almost every potential track.
The motorcycle track is no exception. Sequoia China's layout can be traced back to 2017 when it invested in the angel round of Qiulong Technology, an electric off - road motorcycle brand.
As one of the earliest domestic enterprises focusing on electric off - road motorcycles, Qiulong Technology has accumulated a group of core users with its lightweight design and excellent off - road performance, and has now become a leading brand in the electric off - road track.
At the beginning of 2026, Sequoia China increased its investment in the motorcycle track again by investing in the Pre - A round and following the Series A round of OMOWAY, a startup focusing on high - end intelligent electric motorcycles. It also participated in its angel round half a year ago.
OMOWAY completed three rounds of financing in a row within one year and has become the startup with the largest financing amount in the two - wheel intelligent track so far. Behind it is a super - luxurious team from XPeng:
He Tao, the founder and CEO, is a co - founder of XPeng Motors. He used to be a senior vice - president of XPeng, leading the construction of XPeng's charging network, overseas business expansion, and supply chain system construction. He founded OMOWAY after leaving XPeng in 2024.
Jiao Qingchun, the co - founder and CTO, used to be the vice - president of XPeng Motors and the person in charge of the core autonomous driving team, leading the R & D of XPeng's XNGP intelligent driving architecture. Currently, he is fully responsible for the transplantation and R & D of OMOWAY's self - balancing system and intelligent driving technology.
Zhang Lihua, the design director, is the former senior design director of the exterior styling of XPeng P7, responsible for the overall design of OMO X and the implementation of automotive - grade aesthetic standards; Xiao Zhiguang, the person in charge of intelligent driving, is the former core person in charge of XPeng's autonomous driving, leading the R & D of core technologies such as L2 - level assisted driving, automatic parking, and self - balancing algorithms; Chen Bifeng, the person in charge of overseas business, is the former person in charge of VIVO in Indonesia, mainly responsible for the localization operation and channel expansion of the company in Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
OMOWAY's first product was launched in June 2025, and it is expected to start delivery in Q2 of 2026. The core market focuses on Southeast Asia with Indonesia as the core.
Zhejiang State - owned Assets Invested in Zhangxue Motorcycle and Moshou Mobility, and Chengdu State - owned Assets Invested for Investment Promotion
Zhejiang state - owned assets' layout in the motorcycle track is represented by Zhangxue Motorcycle and Moshou Mobility.
In January 2026, Zhejiang Venture Capital Group led the 90 million yuan Series A financing of Zhangxue Motorcycle, and the post - investment valuation reached 1.09 billion yuan.
Zhangxue Motorcycle's self - developed 819cc three - cylinder engine has broken the monopoly of European, American, and Japanese brands on the core technology of large - displacement motorcycles. The financial support from Zhejiang Venture Capital Group provides key guarantee for its subsequent R & D investment and production capacity expansion.
According to Cao Bin, the angel investor of Zhangxue and the founder of Gaoxin Capital, Zhangxue Motorcycle will invest 135 million yuan in R & D this year, and a large part of it will be invested in the electrification and intelligence of motorcycles. It is expected to launch several electric motorcycle products by 2027.
Even earlier in 2023, Yuhang State - owned Investment under Zhejiang state - owned assets made a strategic investment in Moshou Mobility, an enterprise focusing on urban commuting electric motorcycles, which advocates the product concept of "lightweight + intelligence".
In November 2025, Moshou Mobility received investment from Saize Capital again, further accelerating product iteration and market expansion.
In addition to Zhejiang state - owned assets, IT Juzi noticed that Chengdu state - owned assets also made a move this year.
In February 2026, Qionglai Qingdian Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as "Qionglai Qingdian"), the core state - owned industrial investment platform in Qionglai City, Chengdu, led a strategic investment of hundreds of millions of yuan in Shanghai Paidian Technology Co., Ltd. The core purpose of the investment is to introduce Shanghai's intelligent electric motorcycle enterprise to settle in Qionglai and build a south - west intelligent two - wheeled vehicle industrial cluster.
Paidian Technology was established in 2021 and has several electric motorcycle products. In March 2026, it launched the Lantu LV5 extended - range intelligent electric motorcycle, which is equipped with a semi - solid - state battery + 5kW range extender, and has a hybrid range of over 200 kilometers.
The company has two production and manufacturing bases. The Wuxi base has been put into production, and the Zhejiang Haiyan base (with a total investment of 510 million yuan) started construction in October 2024, with an annual production capacity of 600,000 units. After this financing, it will build a south - west international operation center and a comprehensive industrial base in Qionglai, Sichuan.
In addition, Chery Holdings, an Anhui state - owned enterprise, completed the acquisition of Zhumeng Future Company through its affiliated enterprises in September 2025, officially entering the two - wheeled vehicle market; its electric motorcycle production line project has been approved by the Huaibei Ecological Environment Bureau.
It can be seen that local state - owned assets are all competing to layout the electric motorcycle industry to promote local industrial upgrading.
Sky Workshop Venture Capital Invested in Shouqu Technology
Suzhou Shouqu Technology Co., Ltd. (brand name: SKYMOTOR) was established in March 2025. The company's core business covers the R & D, manufacturing, and sales of all categories of mid - to high - end intelligent two - wheeled vehicles such as new - standard electric bicycles, scooters, and straddle - type motorcycles, with a focus on "intelligence - to - price ratio".
In August 2025, Shouqu Technology completed nearly 100 million yuan in angel - round financing;
In November 2025, the company's first batch of 10,000 mass - produced vehicles were officially offline and shipped to more than 500 stores across the country, setting a record in the industry of "mass production and terminal coverage within 7 months of establishment".
In December 2025, Shouqu Technology signed a contract with the Liuzhou government to invest 1.521 billion yuan to build a south - China headquarters and a benchmark factory for vehicle - grade intelligent two - wheeled electric vehicles. The project is planned to have an annual production capacity of 1.5 million units. The first - phase project will be completed within 2026, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 units, providing support for large - scale mass production and delivery.
In January 2026, the Liuzhou factory officially started construction.
In March this year, Shouqu Technology completed another strategic investment from Sky Workshop Venture Capital (formerly Zhuichuang Venture Capital).
The company's financing funds will be mainly invested in the construction of the Liuzhou factory, core technology R & D, global channel expansion, and brand building, relying on capital support to quickly realize the full - link closed - loop of R & D - mass production - channels.
Local Private Industrial Capital Layouts the Supply Chain
Nanjing Chuhang Technology Co., Ltd. is a leading domestic enterprise in 77/79GHz vehicle - mounted millimeter - wave radars. Headquartered in Nanjing, it was founded by a German - returnee team. Its products cover forward - looking radars, corner radars, 4D imaging radars, etc., and have entered the supply chains of nearly 30 automobile enterprises such as Dongfeng, Great Wall, Chery, and Yutong.
In September last year, Chuhang Technology invested in Haohang Technology Co., Ltd. and became its second - largest shareholder with a 35% shareholding ratio, laying out the intelligent two - wheeled travel field.
Haohang Technology's core business covers the R & D and manufacturing of motorcycles and parts, automobile parts, radars, and supporting equipment. It positions itself as a technology service provider for two - wheeled intelligent travel and vehicle - mounted perception hardware.
The company will rely on Chuhang Technology's radar technology and Haobo Electronics' (the largest shareholder) manufacturing capabilities to focus on the perception system and intelligent component market of intelligent electric motorcycles, scooters, and new - energy two - wheeled vehicles, filling the application gap of high - end millimeter - wave radars and intelligent cockpits in the two - wheeled vehicle field.
03
Portrait of Entrepreneurs: From Grassroots Practitioners
to the Iteration of Elites
Different from high - tech tracks, most entrepreneurs in the motorcycle brand track are "grassroots", without glamorous labels, but with a spirit of hard work. With an almost paranoid love for motorcycles, they have been struggling in the industry for many years and accumulated rich technology and experience.
Zhang Xue is a typical representative.
He came from a rural area in Hunan to Chongqing in his early years and started as an ordinary motorcycle repair apprentice. With his obsession with motorcycles and unremitting research, he gradually grew into a technical expert in the industry.
During the establishment of Kaiyue Motorcycle, he led the team to achieve the best result of a Chinese team in the Dakar Rally; after leaving Kaiyue, he started Zhangxue Motorcycle from scratch and conquered the core technology of the three - cylinder engine in two years.
In the motorcycle track, there are more entrepreneurs like Zhang Xue:
The founders of Qiulong Technology are a group of engineers who love off - road motorcycles. They started from modifying motorcycles and gradually developed into a professional electric off - road motorcycle manufacturer; Chen Guanping, the founder of Moshou Mobility, has nearly 20 years of work experience in the fuel motorcycle and electric motorcycle industry, and most of his team members come from traditional motorcycle enterprises; Ning Hongtao, the founder and CEO of Paidian Technology, is a serial entrepreneur who has been deeply involved in the two - wheeled travel and intelligent hardware fields.
In addition to these entrepreneurs rooted in the motorcycle industry, in recent years, there have also emerged some elite entrepreneurs with resumes of senior executives in large enterprises, who have become the core force promoting the innovative development of the motorcycle industry.
Typical representatives are Guangzhou OMOWAY Co., Ltd., composed of the core team of XPeng Motors, and Shouqu Technology Co., Ltd., led by Dr. Zhang Ying, a physics doctor from Carnegie Mellon University who has successively worked at Toyota North America Research Institute, NIO, and ZEEKR.
04
Investment Logic: What Does Capital Value?
The reason why capital is pouring into the electric motorcycle track is essentially that it is optimistic about the triple empowerment of technology, capital, and industry to turn intelligent electric two - wheeled vehicles into the next new - energy vehicles.
(1) Technology Downgrading: Rapid Migration of Automotive - Grade Capabilities to Two - Wheeled Vehicles
With the maturity of electrification and intelligence in the automotive industry, vehicle - grade technologies such as the Internet of Vehicles, OTA upgrades, and AI - assisted driving are rapidly sinking to two - wheeled vehicles, transforming motorcycles from "mechanical products" to "intelligent terminals". This is the most core investment direction for capital.
Technological changes not only bring innovation in product form but also promote the upgrading of the entire industry. Capital values the feasibility and efficiency of this cross - scenario technology migration.
(2) Scene Explosion: Dual - Wheel Drive of High - End and Globalization
China has the most complete and efficient motorcycle manufacturing industry chain in the world. With the breakthrough of Chinese enterprises in core technologies, Chinese - made motorcycles are changing from "kings of cost - effectiveness" to "technology leaders" and are expected to occupy a