China's primary market continues to exhibit strong state-owned capital leadership and ecosystem synergy across both fundraising and investment activities, characterized by large-scale deals and deep industry-finance integration. Based on incomplete 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, skyrocketing 138.9% year-on-year but falling 18.5% month-on-month. On the investment front, momentum remained elevated, buoyed by the technology-driven narrative in the secondary market. August witnessed 760 equity investment events nationwide, up 34.5% year-on-year but down 14.8% month-on-month. The disclosed total investment amount reached RMB 71.93 billion, roughly returning to levels seen between April and May, approximately 1.05 times that of August 2025. The average single-deal investment size grew 52.0% year-on-year to RMB 94.65 million, though it contracted about 28.4% month-on-month.

This month's edition of Venture Capital Plus spotlights three highly active institutions, analyzing their investment pacing, stage preferences, sector focus, and portfolio companies. Here, we focus on Shenzhen Capital Group and its latest moves.

Greater Bay Area Fund Exceeds RMB 50 Billion; Series A Deals Account for One-Third of Monthly Activity

According to public disclosures from the Asset Management Association of China and Tianyancha, Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shenzhen Capital Group) is a government-guided fund established by the Shenzhen municipal government with social capital participation. It currently manages total assets exceeding RMB 520 billion across various mandates, with investments in over 1,700 companies. As of the end of August 2026, Shenzhen Capital Group had registered two funds. Among them, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Venture Capital Guidance Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) registered a total committed capital of up to RMB 50.45 billion. Its limited partners include industry capital and state-owned investment platforms such as Sunlord Electronics, CCB Investment, China Resources Capital, ICBC Investment, Dongguan Science & Technology Innovation, ZTE Ventures, Zhuhai Science & Technology Venture Capital, Yuecai Fund, and Shenzhen Runguo Chuangchuang. Public reports indicate this fund is a regional vehicle under the national venture capital guidance fund, established by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, with a maximum duration of up to 20 years. The fund will focus on hard technology sectors, targeting strategic emerging industries and future industries, deploying capital through a combination of sub-funds and direct investments, with no less than 80% allocated to sub-funds. The other fund, Hongtu Science & Technology Strategic Investment Equity Investment Fund (Shenzhen) Partnership (Limited Partnership), registered committed capital of RMB 1.275 billion, with the National Social Security Fund's Bay Area Science & Technology Innovation Equity Investment Fund (Shenzhen) Partnership (Limited Partnership) as the primary LP, contributing 80% of the commitments.

During the statistical period, Shenzhen Capital Group publicly disclosed 15 equity investment events, approximately 1.9 times that of the same period in 2025 and roughly flat compared with July 2026. Historical data shows the institution's investment activity has been on a fluctuating upward trend over the past year. In the second half of 2025, Shenzhen Capital Group's investment frequency rose from a low point with increasing volatility, consistent with the typical rhythm of institutions accelerating project screening and due diligence in the latter half of the year to prepare for year-end and next-year closings. Entering 2026, its investment activity climbed noticeably to a higher plateau, averaging 13-14 deals per month. This sustained high level suggests a robust project pipeline and relative insulation from short-term capital market fluctuations, allowing the firm to follow its own strategic deployment and industry cycles for counter-cyclical or cross-cyclical positioning.

By investment stage, Shenzhen Capital Group's activity this month was heavily concentrated in early-stage deals. Seed, Angel, and Pre-A rounds combined accounted for one-third of total investments, with Series A deals contributing another third. This highlights the institution's strategic focus on capturing certainty in early-stage growth, channeling core resources toward the front end of the industrial chain to lock in quality targets during the technology incubation and commercial validation phases. The portfolio also includes Pre-B, Series B, and Series C positions, employing a funnel structure to balance overall risk-return profiles.

By sector, Shenzhen Capital Group's investment logic clearly points toward industries with national strategic direction and high technical barriers. Advanced manufacturing led with a 20.0% share, particularly in sub-sectors such as high-end equipment, precision instruments, and industrial automation—critical areas for resolving "bottleneck" issues and receiving the strongest policy support. Healthcare, enterprise services, and new materials followed as three pillars of equal weight, with innovative drugs, high-end medical devices, cloud computing, and cybersecurity remaining long-term value plays. Quantum technology investments, characterized by high barriers and long cycles, accounted for approximately 13.3%, indicating deliberate positioning in frontier tech tracks. Meanwhile, smaller allocations across artificial intelligence, smart hardware, manufacturing, and consumer upgrades reflect the institution's market sensitivity and diversified approach.

Geographically, nearly half of Shenzhen Capital Group's investments this month landed in its home base of Shenzhen. This not only leverages geographic advantages but also aims to support Shenzhen's "20+8" industrial cluster initiative, providing post-investment empowerment and resource connections for companies in advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and biomedicine. The Yangtze River Delta region, with its deep industrial foundations in digital economy and new materials—and Shanghai as a hard-tech hub—aligns closely with Shenzhen Capital Group's preferences. In August, Zhejiang ranked second with a 20% share, followed by Shanghai at approximately 13.3%.

Reinvesting in Universal Robot "Cerebellum" After a Nine-Month Gap

Qiaojie Shuwu, a developer of general-purpose robot operating systems, announced the completion of its Pre-A+++ financing round, led by China Mobile's Chain Leader Fund, with the round reaching the hundred-million-yuan scale. The proceeds will be directed toward ecosystem development for its RoboCraft AI general-purpose robot motion capability development platform, capacity expansion for its cross-embodiment whole-body motion data factory, iterative improvements to motion control models, and the buildout of overseas technical service systems and compliance frameworks. Shenzhen Capital Group, as an existing shareholder, previously participated in the company's Pre-A+ round in November 2025, making this latest investment a follow-on after a nine-month interval. Public information shows that Qiaojie Shuwu was founded in 2023 and provides motion control solutions for robotics companies. Its core technologies span reinforcement learning, imitation learning, simulation-based motion control, motion control data analysis, and sim-to-real transfer, addressing challenges in physical transfer, development efficiency, and software generality within the robotics industry. Serving manufacturers of humanoid, quadruped, and wheeled-legged robots, the company has supported nearly 40 embodied intelligence enterprises and contributed to the development and deployment of motion capabilities across more than 50 different robot models.