China's primary market has demonstrated a strong "state capital-led" approach with pronounced "ecosystem synergy effects" across both fundraising and investment activities, presenting an overall picture of "frequent large deals and deep industry-finance integration." Based on不完全 statistics from public data, August 2026 saw 10 newly registered private equity and venture capital fund managers, doubling year-on-year and surging 150.0% month-on-month. Newly filed private equity funds totaled 126, down 6.0% year-on-year and 17.1% month-on-month, while newly filed venture capital funds reached 559, up 138.9% year-on-year but down 18.5% month-on-month. On the investment side, momentum remained strong, buoyed by the technology-driven narrative in the secondary market. A total of 760 equity investment deals occurred domestically in August, up 34.5% year-on-year but down 14.8% month-on-month. The disclosed total investment amount hit RMB 71.932 billion, roughly returning to levels seen between April and May, approximately 1.05 times the figure from August 2025. The average deal size grew 52.0% year-on-year to RMB 94.6478 million, falling about 28.4% month-on-month. This edition of Venture Capital Plus focuses on three highly active institutions, offering insights into their investment pace, stage preferences, sector focuses, and portfolio companies.

Both month-on-month and year-on-year activity rose in August, with early-stage investments accounting for nearly half of all deals. According to public disclosures from the Asset Management Association of China and Tianyancha, Cowin Capital was founded in 2000 as one of the country's first professional private equity firms and successfully listed on the NEEQ in 2015. To date, the firm manages over RMB 36 billion in assets, concentrating on emerging sectors such as "healthcare, technology, and information technology." It has invested in more than 700 companies, with 120 having successfully gone public. As of the end of August 2026, Cowin Capital had registered and filed five new funds with combined registered capital contributions of RMB 868 million. Notably, the Suzhou Cowin Strategic Emerging Industry Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) alone accounted for RMB 500 million, with limited partners including the AI Industry Special Mother Fund under Suzhou Venture Capital Group's Strategic Emerging Fund, Oriental State Capital, and Suzhou High-speed Rail New City. Public reports indicate that this fund has a nine-year term, targeting frontier areas related to the artificial intelligence strategic emerging industry within Jiangsu Province's "1650" industrial system, the "51010" strategic emerging industrial cluster, and Suzhou's "1030" industrial system. Its goal is to embed AI deeply into core manufacturing processes, drive industry transformation and intelligent economic growth, and accelerate the application of "AI + Manufacturing" scenarios at both provincial and municipal levels.

During the statistical period, Cowin Capital publicly disclosed 10 investment deals, compared to just one in the same period of 2025, marking a significant 42.9% increase from July. Historical data shows that the firm's investment activity has been on a fluctuating upward trend over the past year, with Q4 2025 seeing early positioning in high-prosperity sectors and a concentration of project signings. Entering 2026, Cowin Capital has maintained an average of more than five investment deals per month. According to its semi-annual report, "Aitake," "Guoyi Company," "Zhanxin Shares," and "Sugon Technology" successfully completed IPOs or passed listing reviews during H1. During the reporting period, the institution achieved total revenue of RMB 171 million, up 54.0% year-on-year, the fastest growth rate since 2021. However, net profit fell 22.3% year-on-year to just RMB 16.3396 million, primarily due to a 224% surge in income tax expenses.

In terms of investment stage, Cowin Capital's strategy this month exhibits a clear barbell structure. Early-stage investments (seed, angel, and Pre-A rounds) together accounted for half of all deals, with angel rounds alone making up 30%. The firm is committed to allocating core resources toward the earliest stages of the industrial chain, locking in quality targets during the technology incubation and commercial validation phases. Series B rounds followed closely, representing about 20% of deals, typically involving companies with initially validated business models where Cowin Capital can more readily capture certainty premiums. Pre-B, Pre-C, and Series A rounds were evenly distributed, indicating the firm's comprehensive coverage across the full project lifecycle.

Looking at industry distribution, 70% of Cowin Capital's investments this month were concentrated in advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence. Advanced manufacturing, serving as the "ballast stone," is a traditional strength for the firm, accounting for 40% of deals and covering sub-sectors like integrated circuits, aerospace, and high-end equipment. AI, with a 30% weight, reflects the firm's high expectations for the AI track, with funded projects primarily focusing on intelligent robotics and AI infrastructure. Production manufacturing, smart hardware, and healthcare each held 10% of the portfolio, demonstrating clear industrial chain synergy effects. Geographically, Cowin Capital's investments are centered on Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai, with these three core cities accounting for a combined 80% of deals. Shenzhen, serving as the firm's "home base," represented 40%, with resources in electronics, smart hardware, and new energy aligning well with its strategy. Beijing offers the strongest university resources and AI foundational research capabilities, while Shanghai boasts mature industrial chains in integrated circuits and biomedicine, allowing the firm to further solidify its hard-tech sector footprint. Notably, Shandong province, a traditional industrial powerhouse, has seen rapid transformation in recent years within "advanced manufacturing" areas like high-end chemicals, new materials, and heavy equipment. Cowin Capital has invested in "Orient Space," a commercial aerospace company with a 100-acre commercial rocket assembly and testing center in Yantai, Shandong.

Betting on a SenseTime-affiliated AI chip company whose valuation doubled to RMB 20 billion in four months: AI chip computing company "Sunrise" announced the completion of a new RMB 2 billion financing round, achieving a post-investment valuation of RMB 20 billion, doubling from its previous round completed in April. Investors in this round include PICC Equity, CCB Equity, Orient International Assets, Janchor Partners, CAS Star, Cowin Capital, Evolution Capital, Linxin Investment, Yida Capital, Lakeside Fund, Honghui Fund, among other investment institutions, as well as industrial capital from CP Group, Jiuan Medical, Infore Environment, 37 Interactive Entertainment, and Tongcheng Travel. Sunrise, spun off from SenseTime for independent operations at the end of 2024, is an AI inference GPU chip company primarily providing AI inference GPUs and full-stack inference solutions. Designed specifically for inference from the chip architecture definition stage, it is dedicated to continuously reducing the unit Token inference cost and TCO for large models, promoting the widespread adoption of AI inference computing power. In January, Sunrise officially launched its next-generation flagship product, the Qiwang S3 inference GPU, the first inference GPU in China featuring LPDDR6 memory while remaining compatible with LPDDR5X.