The primary market investment and financing are booming, and hard technology projects are highly favored by capital.

◎ Reporter He Yi

Since the beginning of this year, primary market investment and financing have shown a hot trend, with a number of hard technology companies favored by capital, and cases of multiple funding rounds and post-investment valuations exceeding 10 billion yuan frequently occurring.

The primary market is booming, with billion-level unicorns appearing frequently

On February 12, the largest single financing for a private rocket was announced, with Galaxy Glory Aerospace Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Galaxy Glory”) completing Series D++ funding, amounting to 5.04B yuan.

“Galaxy Glory’s hyperbolic curve No. 3 medium-large reusable liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle is undergoing related testing and verification, and is expected to complete its first flight into orbit and offshore recovery within the year,” a venture capital industry insider told Shanghai Securities Journal. The company is also pushing forward a new round of financing, with a pre-investment valuation already surpassing 20 billion yuan.

It is reported that the funds raised by Galaxy Glory will mainly be used to further accelerate the development and commercialization of its reusable liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle models, focusing on the “land-based launch, offshore recovery” technical route, increasing investment in final assembly and testing production capacity, improving testing capabilities of core systems such as structure, electrical, and propulsion, strengthening offshore recovery capabilities, and actively participating in and supplementing launch capacity construction.

Since the beginning of this year, frontier technology companies such as embodied robots, brain-computer interfaces, and controlled nuclear fusion have frequently reported good news, with the pace of financing significantly speeding up. In the field of embodied intelligent robots alone, companies like Zhihui Square, Variable Robots, Galaxy General, and Pasini Perception Technology have received new rounds of funding, with post-investment valuations all exceeding 10 billion yuan.

According to Zhizhong ZERONE statistics, primary market investment and financing continued to rise, with 1,176 investment and financing events occurring in January alone, a year-on-year increase of 26%. Among them, Series A, angel rounds, and seed rounds accounted for more than 60%.

Venture capital institutions are busy, focusing on the hard technology track

“Since the beginning of this year, our work pace has been quite fast. The number of business plans from hard technology companies we receive is very high, at least 60 per month. The frequency of project inspections has also increased significantly, with half of the week spent on business trips for due diligence,” said a venture capital insider.

Zhizhong ZERONE analysis states that: the semiconductor track remains highly active, mainly in Series A financing; biotech and pharmaceutical investments are warming up, with investors shifting from chasing “pipeline value” to focusing on profitability certainty; the entire AI industry chain mainly supports startup projects, emphasizing foundational investment and AI applications; the controlled nuclear fusion and new energy sectors are highly focused on, with leading institutions showing strong enthusiasm.

The market’s investment logic is becoming clearer: projects with unique global technology routes, top entrepreneurial teams, and original foundational discoveries are becoming the core targets pursued by capital.

A person from Songhe Capital said, “Current institutional investment behavior is more rational. Hot track projects and those led by top scientists are the key due diligence targets.”

Zhou Sen, General Manager of Nanling Venture Capital, said, “Entrepreneurial teams from top universities, with experience in top companies, and inventors of advanced key technologies, as well as disruptive technologies that are changing or have the potential to change the game, and core technologies that break through ‘bottlenecks,’ are key investment directions.”

Market sentiment is high, but valuation bubbles should be guarded against

Primary market funds favor frontier tracks such as embodied robots, commercial aerospace, and chips, driving the emergence of a batch of billion-level unicorn companies. Among them, tech startups like Zhihui Square and Variable have seen valuations grow about tenfold within a year, raising concerns about whether industry sentiment is overheating.

“There is indeed a certain structural bubble phenomenon in frontier technology projects,” said Yang Huan, Chairman of Nuoer Medical. Currently, there are three types of valuation situations in tech companies:

The first is “overly high valuation bubbles,” where projects are good at storytelling packaging, with capital and projects pushing valuations higher together, but face difficulties in technological成果 landing and slow industrialization progress, making it hard to match capital levels, risking a bubble burst.

The second is “structurally undervalued,” where projects have solid R&D foundations and technological breakthroughs but are not good at market operations, so their value is not reasonably reflected.

The third, between the two, is more common, reflecting a lack of clear industry evaluation standards and chaotic valuation systems, making it difficult to accurately match valuation with actual value.

Zhou Sen said that some high-quality projects’ valuations have experienced moderate bubbles, which can help attract more social capital into frontier fields and future industries, gathering more resources for the development of hard technology. However, investments must remain rational, and caution should be exercised regarding the risks behind overly high valuations. Pushing valuations too high early in a company’s development may lead to difficulties in subsequent financing and valuation inversion, which is not conducive to the industry’s long-term healthy development.

Long-term capital should be patient to support future industry growth

Supporting the development of frontier technology fields comprehensively remains a top priority. Avoiding short-term thinking and坚持 patience and long-term investment are essential to laying a solid foundation for the development of hard technology industries.

Patience capital, centered on government-guided funds and state-owned platforms, continues to grow, characterized by long-term capital, long-term assessment, and long-term companionship, serving as the backbone of hard tech investment. Meanwhile, patient capital leverages capital effects to attract insurance, AIC, venture capital, and industrial capital from diverse social sources. According to Zhizhong ZERONE, as of January 2026, 565 new funds had been registered, with a total scale of 237.9 billion yuan.

Endless capital inflows are flowing into frontier technology fields. In February, Jiangsu Province’s strategic emerging industry fund signed five industry-specific funds, totaling 67.1 billion yuan, explicitly supporting biotech, new energy, integrated circuits, AI, and low-altitude economy and other strategic emerging and future industries. Left Ding, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Shenzhen Capital Group, previously stated that Shenzhen has promoted the landing of the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund—Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Fund, which will mobilize hundreds of billions of yuan to seed and early-stage companies.

Some industry insiders say that many state-owned platforms are gradually relaxing assessment mechanisms, improving fund evaluation systems, and requiring investment personnel to conduct diligent investigations; some platforms allow up to 80% project failures, offering greater tolerance to investors. “We hope local guidance funds and state-owned platforms can further improve assessment and evaluation mechanisms, encourage funds to truly stay committed to supporting hard tech companies’ growth, reduce short-term profit-seeking behavior, and enable capital to dare, willing, and capable of investing, providing stable funding for frontier technology R&D and industry implementation.”

Yu Yingdong, General Manager of Tongchuang Jiaye, told Shanghai Securities Journal that national and local government industry guidance funds have become the absolute dominant force in the primary market, guiding social capital to invest in frontier technology fields. This helps accelerate the development of emerging and future industries, further promoting regional industrial upgrades and high-quality economic development.