A poor kid with 30 million startup capital builds a 1 billion empire and defeats Japan

Author | Shi Dalang & Cat Brother

Source | Shi Dalang & Da Mao Finance Pro

One World War has crowned him.

On March 28, at the Portuguese stop of the World Superbike Championship (WSBK), French rider Valentin Debise crossed the finish line with a 4-second lead, and the motorcycle beneath him was the Zhangxue motorcycle from China.

This is the first time a Chinese manufacturer has topped the international premier event, breaking the monopoly of old brands like Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. What Zhangxue motorcycle boss Zhang Zao said early on—“Watch me how to use Chinese manufacturing to take down Japanese manufacturing”—has truly come to pass.

In the second race on the 29th, Debise won again, and Zhangxue motorcycle once more made history.

A back-to-back championship— the motorcycle world basically celebrates like New Year.

Actor Yin Zheng, who starred in Fast & Furious, posted late at night on Weibo. Zhangxue is too capable—he wants to support with action.

And Zhangxue’s response: he originally should have invited Yin Zheng to be a spokesperson, but “we don’t have money again, so we’ll give you this 820.”

Before that, the reputation of Zhangxue motorcycle was not exactly high-profile.

The ZXMOTO team only began participating in races in the 2026 season. Debise is a veteran, but he doesn’t have many championships. In the first stop Australia race for the Zhangxue motorcycle team, the results were also not ideal.

After winning, both ZXMOTO and Debise became hot commodities.

Zhangxue motorcycle is even younger. According to Tianyancha, Chongqing Zhangxue Motorcycle was established in April 2024—by any measure, it has been only about 2 years so far.

In January this year, Zhangxue motorcycle just completed its Series A funding. Zhejiang Chuang Tou Investments put in 90 million, and the company’s valuation reached 1.09 billion.

As the event exploded in popularity, Zhangxue motorcycle completely broke into the mainstream.

Of course, traffic also translated into sales. Within 100 hours after the race, more than 5,500 units of the “championship model” were reserved. At an average price of 40k, revenue was over 8B.

Along with the event’s breakout popularity, so did Boss Zhang.

He has a video that has once again gone viral: when he was 19, in the rain he rode a motorcycle for three hours, chasing the Hunan Satellite TV program team more than 100 kilometers, just to retake a shot of him riding a motorcycle.

Boss Zhang has his own “Fast & Furious” script. He is a “Jixing,” and he is also “Zhang Chi,” and still a “Top 100 general.”

In 1987, Zhangxue was born in a small mountain village in Huaihua, Hunan. From a young age, he liked motorcycles.

In 2003, after graduating from junior high, Zhangxue went to work as an apprentice at a repair shop, starting to repair motorcycles. At 17, he had his own repair shop.

But repairing motorcycles was only a starting point—he wanted to be a racing driver.

In 2006, a program team from Hunan Satellite TV went to shoot footage in Xiangxi. He wanted to show off his driving skills to the program team, but he didn’t expect to “crash.” He had planned to redo it, but the program team left—so that car-chasing storyline came about.

He said, “It’s not important to get on TV. But it’s important that a racing team sees me and lets me into the team.”

Later, when the show aired, sure enough, a team contacted him. This repair shop apprentice finally got his wish and entered the team.

The days of being “Race Driver Zhangxue” were great, but that kind of life didn’t last long. The fifty or sixty thousand yuan he saved from repairs ran out quickly, but he hadn’t made any money from racing.

Then he started making motorcycles.

He first went to work for a big factory, but he had his own understanding of building bikes. At the company, he would confront everyone—people, heaven, and even his boss. Later, he quit. He “hand-assembled” a motorcycle himself and named it “Freedom.”

But even if he did it by hand, it still wasn’t as good as having a professional supply chain. In 2017, he teamed up with several friends to start a business and founded Keve Industry.

Keve motorcycles also attracted investment and participated in the Dakar Rally. But because his voice was limited, a project he proposed was rejected, and he resigned again.

In 2024, Zhangxue, who doesn’t like entrepreneurship, still took 30 million to start a business.

Born in Hunan, he shifted to Zhejiang, but in the end, Zhangxue motorcycle landed in Chongqing.

After all, Chongqing used to be a “city of motorcycles.”

In the 1990s, Chongqing had a “Chongqing Moto Brotherhood.” Lifang, Loncin, and Zongshen were all the backbone of Chongqing’s motorcycle industry. At the peak, more than 60% of the country’s motorcycle production and sales came from Chongqing.

But as cars became more and more popular—and with various regions’ “anti-motorcycle” regulations—motorcycles gradually began to retreat. Lifang went bankrupt, Loncin sold itself off, and life was not easy.

Still, the legacy of a “motorcycle city” remains.

When Zhangxue “hand-assembled” motorcycles, a motorcycle parts market in Chongqing could source all the components needed for a complete bike.

Zhangxue motorcycle also caught a good time. In many places, “anti-motorcycle” or “motorcycle restriction” regulations had already loosened. “Replacing bans with regulation” became the norm, leaving more and more room for motorcycle road rights.

When it settled in Chongqing, the city’s production capacity had already recovered to #1 nationwide.

Zhangxue said he used to like Lei Jun, and netizens also said Zhangxue is “Lei Jun of the motorcycle world.”

He has traits similar to Lei Jun—for example, being willing to communicate with users, doing a live stream once a week so users can supervise him “without fooling them,” and also having a body that naturally attracts attention.

Recently, Zhangxue motorcycle 820RR refused to sell to new riders and even offered rewards for reporting. It was alleged to be in violation and complaints were lodged with the municipal market supervision bureau. But fans supported it, and the controversy at the time was significant.

Zhangxue’s goal is to make Zhangxue motorcycle reach the global Top 10.

And this year, Zhangxue wants to open stores first to 450 locations, with sales revenue reaching 2 billion—so that the company, which lost more than 7B, can turn profitable with that money first. Next year, Zhangxue motorcycle will also push to hit the Top 3 domestically in recreational motorcycles.

In Boss Zhang’s view, after borrowing 7 million to pay wages and making it through the “life-and-death stage,” Zhangxue motorcycle’s remaining window period is only 3 years. “If you can, you’ll make it. If you can’t, then you won’t have a chance to make it.”

Now it seems that winning the championship is only the first step—first let the world see Zhangxue motorcycle.

But the most important thing is still how to conquer the world with product quality.

After all, the lessons from the former “Chongqing Moto Brotherhood” also came at a heavy cost.

Author statement: Personal views only, for reference