Focusing on cutting-edge technologies and future industries, ZGC Capital, a subsidiary of ZGC Group, has directly invested in a total of 591 hard-tech enterprises, of which more than 95% are small, medium and micro-sized businesses. So far, the portfolio has helped to cultivate 13 unicorn companies and 252 “Specialized, Refined, Differential, and Innovative” (SRDI) enterprises.

As a critical sector in future industries, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology has emerged as a frontier where capital and scientific innovation converge. NeuCyber NeuroTech is a key project in ZGC Capital’s BCI investment layout. In 2022, ZGC Group established the BeiNao Fund and co-founded NeuCyber NeuroTech together with the director of the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing (CIBR, Beijing). Starting from a cutting-edge technology in the laboratory, ZGC Capital stepped in deeply even before the project company was officially registered—helping build the team and clarify the commercialization pathway. Today, the semi-invasive “Beinao-1” intelligent brain-computer interface system has entered standardized, large-scale confirmatory clinical trials, and medical institutions such as Beijing Tiantan Hospital and Beijing Xuanwu Hospital have completed surgery for enrolled patients. The “Beinao-1” system is projected to secure its medical device registration certificate by 2027. Meanwhile, the invasive “Beinao-2” system is expected to enter human trials—marking the clinical validation phase—by late 2026.

It is about “providing guarantee services for early-stage, small-scale, long-term, and hard-tech enterprises” — when it comes to early-stage investing, the most challenging part is identifying high-quality projects. “Our core philosophy is not to wait for projects to come to us, but to proactively ‘create’ projects — by uncovering innovation in the lab, helping scientists build teams, design business models, and connect with industrial resources,” said a representative of ZGC Capital. The company has extended its services to the source of innovation by launching the “Hundred Universities, Thousand Outcomes” initiative, establishing long-term partnerships with nearly 100 universities and research institutes, and screening over 1,000 high-quality technology transformation projects annually. Today, more than half of its direct investment portfolio comes from innovation sources such as universities, laboratories, and premier national research institutes, including commercialization projects spearheaded by 48 academicians.

In 2025, ZGC Capital made investment decisions on 103 projects, with a total investment amount of RMB 4.078 billion. Investment is only the starting point. Providing comprehensive post-investment support for early-stage projects and growing together with hard-tech companies is the hallmark of patient capital. Take Qitan Technology as an example: ZGC Capital astutely invested when the company had only completed its proof-of-concept prototype. Over the course of eight years, it participated in four successive rounds of investment to continuously provide financial support. Moreover, ZGC Capital actively helped the company connect with follow-on financing, coordinate industrial park space in Beijing, and facilitate connections with chip design firms and other industrial resources. From prototype to commercialization, patient capital has been there every step of the way. Today, Qitan Technology has become a leader in the independent R&D and full-chain industrialization of nanopore gene sequencers.

To date, ZGC Capital’s investment portfolio is primarily concentrated in the “5+X” strategic sectors: artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, healthcare & biotechnology, new energy, advanced materials, and future industries. Supported by its 591 direct investments, 13 unicorns and 252 Specialized, Refined, Differential, and Innovative (SRDI) enterprises have emerged. Empowered by professional technology services and strategic capital, a number of hard-tech ventures are accelerating the growth trajectory while injecting robust new momentum into industrial upgrading.