In the first quarter, funding for China’s AI-related start-ups surged nearly threefold compared to the previous year, driven by significant investments in large language models and embodied AI. These start-ups secured over 110 billion yuan (US$16.2 billion), marking a 185% increase from the same period last year. This growth has bolstered China’s private equity and venture capital market, with total investment activity reaching 2,568 deals worth 234.4 billion yuan, showing year-on-year increases of nearly 5% in deal volume and over 15% in value. Major fundraising rounds were completed by leading generative AI developers like Moonshot AI, StepFun, Z.ai, and MiniMax, alongside embodied AI firm Galaxea AI, highlighting strong investor interest in automation and advanced computing. Foreign-currency investments also rebounded sharply, with the number of deals more than doubling to 210 and disclosed investment value soaring over 495% to 67.3 billion yuan, primarily targeting AI and consumer sectors. Meanwhile, yuan-denominated investments saw a decline of nearly 13% to 167.1 billion yuan.
Why did China’s AI start-up funding triple to US$16 billion in the first quarter?
