The "Big Bang" of Future Industry Funds: Shanghai Takes the Lead, Who Is Catching Up?
Since the beginning of this year, a total of 5 funds with "future industries" in their names have been newly established across the country, with a total registered capital of 1.1501 billion yuan. Shanghai leads the way with a 15-billion-yuan future industries fund. The cumulative investment decision amount has exceeded 5.2 billion yuan, and the target scale of sub - funds exceeds 30 billion yuan.
On June 25, 2026, the Shanghai Future Industries Fund announced that its investment decision - making committee had reviewed and approved the proposed participation in two sub - funds: Shanghai Qingke Zhicheng Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) (provisional name) and Shanghai Qianzhan Zhixing Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership). This is another move by the 15 - billion - yuan Shanghai Future Industries Fund at the sub - fund level.
One week ago, Beijing Yizhuang International Investment and Development Co., Ltd. jointly with Beijing Yizhuang International Industrial Investment Management Co., Ltd. launched four industrial investment funds with a total scale of 20 billion yuan. One of them is the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone Future Industries Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership).
2026 is the first year of the 15th Five - Year Plan. Future industries have been included in the government work reports and planning outlines of many regions. According to the data from Cailian Press Venture Capital Connect - Zhipartners, since the beginning of this year, a total of 5 funds directly mentioning "future industries" in their names have been newly established across the country. The total registered capital is 1.1501 billion yuan. However, these 5 funds are just the tip of the iceberg. If we broaden our vision to strategic emerging industry funds focusing on future industries and various "patient capitals", the scale of the relevant fund matrix has exceeded 100 billion yuan.
Shanghai Leads
While most cities are still in a hurry to make plans at the beginning of the 15th Five - Year Plan in 2026, Shanghai quietly took action as early as 2024.
In May 2024, Shanghai State - owned Investment Corporation initiated a forward - looking layout for the fusion industry and identified 30 scientist teams. At that time, the "fusion fever" in China had not yet taken shape, but Shanghai State - owned Investment had already started a systematic scan of the track. One year later, Shanghai officially issued the "Several Measures on Accelerating the Innovation of Frontier Technologies and the Cultivation of Future Industries", comprehensively covering six major directions: future manufacturing, future information, future materials, future energy, future space, and future health.
In the same year, the Shanghai Future Industries Fund with a total scale of 10 billion yuan (later expanded to 15 billion yuan) was officially established, positioning itself as a counter - cyclical patient capital with a 15 - year cycle. The suggestions for Shanghai's 15th Five - Year Plan in 2026 further clarified that agile layouts should be made in fields such as quantum technology, brain - computer interface, controllable nuclear fusion, biological manufacturing, and sixth - generation mobile communication.
From the quiet layout in 2024 to the full - scale development in 2026, Shanghai completed the leap from "starting" to "leading" in two years.
Numbers speak the loudest. As of April 30, 2026, the Shanghai Future Industries Fund has made cumulative direct investment decisions on 30 projects, with a decision - making amount of 720.68 million yuan, and 38 sub - funds with a total of 4.535 billion yuan, with a total investment decision amount of 5.25568 billion yuan. At the sub - fund level, 38 sub - funds have been approved for investment, with a target scale of over 30 billion yuan and a magnification factor of over 6.8 times. The sub - funds that have started investing have cumulatively invested in 150 enterprises. The feature of "investing early and in small - scale projects" is particularly prominent. The number and amount of projects at the A - round and before in direct investment projects both account for over 90%.
According to the data from Cailian Press Venture Capital Connect - Zhipartners, the GPs selected by the Shanghai Future Industries Fund cover first - tier institutions such as IDG Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Yuanhe Puhua, Lenovo Star, Northern Light Venture Capital, and Zhongke Chuangxing. At the same time, it allocates to vertical track funds such as Yaotu, Mingshi, and Tongge, presenting a combination feature of "white - horse + dark - horse" funds.
At the direct investment level, the fund's layout is more precise and concentrated. Data shows that as of now, the fund has directly invested in 25 project companies, all in the early growth stage, focusing on the hard - technology theme, including quantum computing, controllable nuclear fusion, artificial intelligence and computing power, and robotics.
Among them, quantum computing is one of the key investment directions of the Shanghai Future Industries Fund. In terms of technical routes, the fund focuses on multiple paths such as neutral atoms, superconductivity, topology, and silicon - based quantum dots. The direct investment portfolio already includes several companies such as Bouchou Quantum, Taiyi Quantum Life, Zhongqi Wuliang, and Junhe Atom.
Take Bouchou Quantum as an example. This startup, which originated from the Neutral Atom Quantum Computing Laboratory of Fudan University, received a direct investment of 5 million yuan from the fund. The fund also coordinated with the sub - fund Zhongke Chuangxing to invest 35 million yuan, jointly completing a 60 - million - yuan angel - round financing with other investors. With the support of the fund, the team has shifted from scientific research verification to system engineering capability building, and the scale has expanded to 40 - 50 people.
In the field of controllable nuclear fusion, regarded as the "ultimate energy", Shanghai's layout is the most complete and systematic in the country. In the direct investment portfolio of the Future Industries Fund, Shanghai Future Fusion Energy Technology Co., Ltd. has a subscription ratio of 16.89%, significantly higher than the other projects (the second - highest is only 3.55%), making it the single largest investment in the portfolio, which shows the fund's strategic determination in this track.
At the same time, according to the industrial ecosystem of "AI for Fusion - device - magnet - strip - core components - application", the fund has made a systematic layout around the fusion device and the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, investing in star projects such as China Fusion and Xinghuan Jueneng. In January this year, Xinghuan Jueneng completed a 1 - billion - yuan Series A financing, led by Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Group and the Shanghai Future Industries Fund, setting a new record for a single - round financing of a private nuclear fusion enterprise in China. In May, it quickly completed a 500 - million - yuan Series A+ financing, with a cumulative financing of over 2 billion yuan.
According to the previous judgment of Liu Lipeng, the executive general manager of the investment department of the Shanghai Future Industries Fund, "So far, Shanghai has planned to build at least 8 fusion devices and is expected to become the city with the highest density and quality of fusion devices in the world, if not the only one."
Multiple Regions in Competition
If Shanghai is the leader who took the lead, now the ranks of the chasers are growing.
In terms of the layout of future industries funds this year, Beijing is the city with the most intensive actions besides Shanghai. First, there is the Beijing Frontier Science and Technology New Future Industries Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership), with a scale of about 3.5 billion yuan. The biggest feature of this fund is that it is dominated by insurance funds. Sunshine Life Insurance's investment accounts for as high as 84.97%. Insurance funds entering the future industries fund with an absolute dominant position is rare among the current future industries funds across the country, reflecting the strategic judgment of insurance funds as long - term and patient capital on the future industries track.
The other one is the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone Future Industries Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), with a scale of 3 billion yuan. Different from the former, the LP structure of this fund is highly concentrated. Beijing Yizhuang International Investment and Development Co., Ltd.'s investment accounts for as high as 99.97%, and the GP is Beijing Yizhuang International Industrial Investment Management. This is the one specifically targeting "future industries" among the four industrial investment funds (with a total of 20 billion yuan) launched by Beijing Yizhuang in June, complementing the other three special funds in the same batch: artificial intelligence and integrated circuits (about 8 billion yuan), intelligent manufacturing and robotics (about 5 billion yuan), and biotechnology and big health (about 4 billion yuan).
In addition to these two local funds, Beijing also occupies an important position at the national level. The Central State - owned Enterprises Strategic Emerging Industries Development Fund was established in October 2025, with a registered capital of 51 billion yuan and an investment period of 5 years. This is a special fund promoted by the State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to accelerate the development of strategic emerging industries by central state - owned enterprises. Led by China Reform Holdings Corporation, it was jointly initiated by more than a dozen central state - owned enterprises such as China Mobile and Sinopec, aiming to support central state - owned enterprises in making up for deficiencies and making forward - looking innovation layouts in the fields of strategic emerging industries and future industries. In June 2026, the fund invested 400 million yuan in China Telecom (Shanghai) Artificial Intelligence Industry Private Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), directly targeting the core track of artificial intelligence in future industries.
Zhejiang has put forward a giant "chip". Instead of setting up a fund from scratch, it relies on a higher - level platform - Zhejiang Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Fund.
The full name of Zhejiang's future industries mother fund is Zhejiang Science and Technology Innovation Future Industries Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership), with a total scale of 10.103 billion yuan. It is one of the six special funds under the Zhejiang Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Fund. Its longest term is 18 years, adopting the "sub - fund + direct investment" model. The investment clearly covers six major directions: future manufacturing, future information, future materials, future energy, future space, and future health. It is basically in line with the coverage of the Shanghai Future Industries Fund. As of now, the fund has not publicly made any investments.
In contrast, Shandong's scale is slightly smaller, but it acts quickly. In January this year, the Shandong Kinetic Energy Future Industries Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) was registered, with a total scale of 3 billion yuan. Most of the above - mentioned funds are still in the establishment or fundraising stage, while Shandong's fund has quickly entered the actual investment stage. In May this year, the fund invested 50 million yuan in the Shanghai Zhipu Guotai Haitong Artificial Intelligence Industry Venture Capital Fund, targeting the AI track.
In addition, this month, Shandong New Kinetic Energy Fund Company jointly with state - owned platforms in Jinan and Yantai established the Luhang Kinetic Energy Venture Capital Fund, with a scale of 2 billion yuan. Adopting the "provincial - level mother fund + city - level sub - fund" structure, it focuses on the entire aerospace industry chain, low - altitude economy, and aerospace information and other frontier fields, further enriching Shandong's future industries fund matrix.
Following Shandong, Hubei and Sichuan have entered the segmented tracks with a scale of one billion yuan, setting an example for the future industries layout in the central and western regions.
Wuhan is the city with the most intensive actions in the third echelon. In March this year, the Yangtze River New Area Future Industries Guidance Fund was established first, with a scale of 1 billion yuan, jointly invested by the Wuhan Yangtze River New Area Innovation Industry Development Fund and the Wuhan Industry Development Fund. Three months later, in June, the Wuchuang Future Intelligent Venture Capital Fund was launched. This fund, also with a scale of 1 billion yuan, is jointly invested by Wuchuangtou, Wuhan Fund, and the Hubei Humanoid Robot Mother Fund. It is one of the first - batch sub - funds launched by the 10 - billion - yuan Hubei Humanoid Robot Mother Fund, focusing on artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, and embodied intelligence.
From the guidance fund in March to the vertical sub - fund in June, Wuhan completed a combination of moves from the mother fund to the segmented track in three months.
Chengdu is also taking action. In May 2026, Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment Group and Xingjin Industrial Investment jointly launched the Chengdu Future Industries Venture Capital Sub - fund, with a total scale of 1 billion yuan and an initial phase of 500 million yuan, focusing on artificial intelligence, low - altitude economy, biomedicine, and commercial aerospace. It is worth mentioning that Jianyang, a subordinate district, also established a 1 - billion - yuan future industries development fund and completed its first direct investment in the intelligent manufacturing field. From the municipal level to the district and county level, Chengdu's future industries fund layout also shows a gradient - extension feature.
After Shanghai led the way for two years, more and more cities are joining this race. Beijing's insurance - fund dominance and the support of central state - owned enterprises, Zhejiang's 10 - billion - yuan mother fund relying on the social security science and technology innovation fund, Shandong's quick action, Wuhan's double - layer investment in three months, and Chengdu's simultaneous layout at the municipal and district levels. It is imaginable that the list of participants in this race will continue to grow in the future.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", author: Yu Shiqi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.