245 - year old professor , She threw 2 A super Unicorn

source ： The investment community （ID：pedaily2012） author ： Zhang Jiwen

This is a rare scene in China's venture capital circle .

Who is zhuxiaorui ？

Let's start with two financing news . Last week, , Technology consumption robot solution provider 「 Da Dao Zhichuang 」 Get ten million preA+ Round of funding , This round of financing is led by Jiadao private capital , Professor zhuxiaorui, an individual investor, and the old shareholders continue to increase their stakes ; Not long ago , Sutengju achieved a new round of super 24 Billion yuan strategic financing , Among the ten billion Unicorn row .

These two seemingly unrelated companies , Behind them stood a female professor —— Zhuxiaorui .1977 Born in , Zhuxiaorui was a professor at Harbin Institute of Technology 、 With concurrent . earlier , She was recommended to Wang Tao by Professor Li Zexiang , Served as the chief scientist of Dajiang , Experienced the whole process of Dajiang from a team on the verge of collapse to the global drone overlord . A similar story happened to Suteng juchuang , Zhu Xiaorui took up the post of chief scientist again .

This is a microcosm of the entrepreneurial model of the next incubation of professors . Look at the venture capital circle in South China , Previously, Professor Li Zexiang incubated Dajiang innovation 、 Li Qun 、 Escape Technology 、 Cloud whale intelligence, etc , Later, Professor Gao Bingqiang 、 Professor Gan Jie has successively cultivated a large number of hard core unicorns . In the guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area , It is becoming more and more popular that professors lead students to start businesses , They have risen to become a new entrepreneurial Corps .

01 45 year , She is a former professor of Harbin Institute of technology and once hatched Dajiang

The data shows ,1977 Zhu Xiaorui, born in , Successively in 1998 Years and 2000 He obtained a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Harbin Institute of Technology .2006 year , She went to the University of Utah to study for her doctorate , All majors are mechanical engineering ; When you come back from school , Zhuxiaorui entered Harbin Institute of Technology ( Shenzhen ) teach , More in 2011 In, he was exceptionally rated as a doctoral supervisor . Now , Zhuxiaorui is the president of Zhuhai Lingnan big data Research Institute .

This is a proper academic bull . Zhuxiaorui has presided over many national projects , Published more than a dozen core journals , Has undertaken more than ten projects （ Projects above provincial and ministerial level are 5 term ）, The total expenditure exceeds 260 ten thousand , Most of the projects undertaken are innovative .

among , China's national science and technology support program “ Research, development and application of mobile laboratory for the protection of cultural relics unearthed site ” I was in 2012 Won the second prize of the national science and Technology Progress Award , Zhuxiaorui is the main person who completed the project . She once introduced , The project combines traditional archaeological excavation with advanced automation technology , It is a bold attempt of Archaeology in the field of Automation , It is the first in China .

Besides , Zhuxiaorui is still IEEE Member of the international robotics and Automation Association , He once served as the chairman of the branch of the association and the International Affairs Committee . Need to know ,IEEE RAS It is one of the most important robotics and automation academic organizations in the world , Zhu Xiaorui is the only member of this association in Chinese Mainland .

Zhu Xiaorui did not bury herself in the ivory tower of academic , But actively try industrialization . The overlord in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles —— Innovation in Xinjiang , This is the initial attempt of Zhu Xiaorui's industrial incubation .

Time to go back to 2006 year , With the encouragement of my tutor Professor Li Zexiang ,26 At the age of, Wang Tao is in a room in chegong temple, Futian District, Shenzhen 20 Dajiang innovation was founded in a warehouse of square meters .

The threshold of UAV industry is high , The difficulty of entrepreneurship is self-evident . When the company was founded , We can't recruit excellent talents , And often fall into the dilemma of lack of funds .2008 year , Just when Wang Tao couldn't hold on , Li Zexiang joined Dajiang innovation , It's not just money , It also introduced many outstanding people in the industry to Dajiang innovation , Including zhuxiaorui, who was then the doctoral supervisor of automation in Shenzhen Graduate School of Harbin Institute of Technology .

at that time , Zhu Xiaorui learned that Dajiang was in a financial tight situation , Jointly invested with Li Zexiang , Solved the urgent need of Dajiang . She also became the chief scientist of Dajiang , With students, I have provided a lot of support for the research and technological development of Dajiang , Helped Dajiang overcome many technical problems . thereafter , Zhuxiaorui has also been continuously supplying excellent talents for Dajiang .

The later story is well known . In the UAV consumer market , The great Xinjiang is a unique place . At present, the market share of UAV in the world is , Yes 85% The above is occupied by Dajiang brand . In the United States , The market share of Dajiang is also 77% above .2020 year 8 month , Dajiang innovation to 1000 The valuation of RMB billion ranks 《2020 Hurun global Unicorn list 》 The first 14 position .

Professor zhuxiaorui once said in a public speech , before , academic circle 、 industrial circle 、 The investment community operates separately , Less intersection . These years , The interaction between academia and industry is becoming more and more frequent , There are also many professionals entering the investment field .“ We hope to learn 、 Industry 、 Investment accelerates the integration of these three sectors .”

02 Bring out a student corps, and just hatch a ten billion Unicorn

Besides Dajiang innovation , Professor zhuxiaorui also hatched another ten billion Unicorn —— Lidar enterprise Suteng juchuang . Founder of Suteng juchuang 、CEO Qiu Chunxin is a postdoctoral fellow of Shenzhen Research Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology , Mainly focus on robot navigation and control , It was Zhu Xiaorui's first doctoral student .

2014 year 8 month , After Qiu Chunxin finished his doctoral thesis , He co founded Suteng juchuang with his doctoral tutor zhuxiaorui and his laboratory brother liuletian . among , Qiu Chunxin served as the company CEO, Zhuxiaorui is the chief scientist of the company , Liu Letian is the company CTO.

At the beginning of creation , Zhuxiaorui easily brought the angel wheel and A Investors in the round , And increase investment in research and development . Qiu Chunxin once revealed , Two research lines in the hands of tutor Zhu Xiaorui , A flight control system for Dajiang UAV , One is to make a radar for an unmanned car , Finally, it developed into Suteng juchuang .

Based on this , Qiu Chunxin and Suteng juchuang entered the field of vehicle lidar .2016 year 10 month , Suteng juchuang has developed 16 Line of mechanical lidar RS-LiDAR; Four years later , Suteng juchuang produced the world's first vehicle specification MEMS Solid state lidar RS-LiDAR-M1 Batch shipment , To North America .

Now , Suteng juchuang has become the only enterprise in the world to realize the mass production and delivery of the second generation intelligent solid-state laser radar . World famous market research and strategy consulting company Yole Developement released 《2021 Laser radar application report in automotive and industrial fields 》 Show ,2021 In the global lidar shipment ranking , Suteng juchuang 10% Ranked second in share , Second only to Valeo （28%）.

With the laser radar becoming the standard configuration of domestic medium and high-end models , The financing of Suteng juchuang is very popular . establish 8 Year , Suteng juchuang has completed nearly ten rounds of financing , The investor is Dongfang Fuhai 、 Yunfeng Fund 、 Kunzhong capital 、 Huaxing new economic fund, etc VC/PE Institutions , There are also BYD 、 Yutong 、 Hong Kong instant messaging 、 Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang industry fund 、 BAIC industrial investment and other industrial capital . It is reported that , The valuation of Suteng juchuang is 100 Billion yuan , Successfully become a unicorn .

Besides , Zhu Xiaorui also brought out a unicorn reserve army . Just one year after Suteng juchuang was founded 2015 year , Xingzhiwei, a doctor from Harbin Institute of technology, founded intelligent innovation of robot enterprise Avenue , Professor zhuxiaorui is the co-founder .

At first , Dadao Zhichuang started with security robots , One of the first robot companies to explore the security robot market in China .2019 About years ago , Dadao Zhichuang security business has formed a stable cash flow , Start from marketing needs , Layout the field of scientific and technological consumption . not long ago , Dadao Zhichuang has completed tens of millions of levels PreA+ Round of funding , This round of financing is led by Jiadao private capital , Professor zhuxiaorui, an individual investor, and the old shareholders continue to increase their stakes .

There are also self driving navigation technology developers incubated by Professor Zhu Xiaorui —— Innovation UDI.2018 year , Professor Liu Ming and Professor Wang Lujia of Hong Kong University of science and technology officially founded Yiqing innovation UDI, Laser radar 、 Vision and 3D data processing algorithm and deep learning 、 Combination of multi-sensor fusion , Provide L3、L4 The overall solution of unmanned system .

establish 4 In the year , Innovation UDI It's done 3 Round of funding , Investors include Dongfang Fuhai 、 Tongwei capital 、 Qingyuan investment 、 Lenovo venture capital 、 Xinyuan shares 、 Yunchuang capital, etc . among , Zhuxiaorui is also one of the shareholders of the company , The shareholding ratio is up to 9.48%.

Carefully observe the project incubated by Professor zhuxiaorui , It is not difficult to find an interesting phenomenon ： Dongfang Fuhai, a well-known local venture capital institution, mostly participated in the early investment of these companies .

Little known is that , Professor zhuxiaorui is also a mysterious LP. So-called LP（Limited Partners）, Limited partners , Be commonly called “ King's father ”, Is the investor of venture capital institutions . Sky eye examination shows , Professor zhuxiaorui is Fuhai Deep Bay under Oriental Fuhai （ Shenzhen ） Angel 3 venture capital fund （ Limited partnership ） One of the investors of , The subscribed capital contribution is 500 Thousands of yuan , The shareholding ratio is 3.73%.

As Zhu Xiaorui expected , With a technical background, she joined hands with industry and investment circles to participate in the historical process of China's hard technology industrialization

03 The rise of academic legions “ teacher + Student ” Create unicorns

At the moment , University professors become entrepreneurial mentors , It is becoming a unique scenic spot in the venture capital circle .

One of the most typical is a godfather —— Li Zexiang .1961 Li Zexiang, born in, was admitted to university in the second year after the resumption of the college entrance examination . With excellent grades, he also went to the United States to study , Until the doctor graduated .1992 year , Li Zexiang joined the Hong Kong University of science and Technology . thereafter , While teaching and educating people , We also started the road of entrepreneurship incubation .

Innovation in Xinjiang , It is the incubation case that Li Zexiang is most familiar with . With his guidance and help , Dajiang innovation has gradually grown into the overlord in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles .

In recent years , Professor Li Zexiang also established an international robot industry base in Songshan Lake, Dongguan , Cloud whale intelligence was born 、 Hai Rou innovation 、 Oka intelligence 、 Songling robot, etc 100 Home robot / Smart hardware startups , The market valuation of incubated enterprises in the base has exceeded 10 billion yuan .2016 year , Li Zexiang and shennanpeng, global executive partner of Sequoia Capital 、 Professor Chen Guanhua, University of Hong Kong , union 22 A Hong Kong Super professor and technology elite co founded Hong Kong X Technology entrepreneurship platform , Opened the road of industry university research linkage .

In the circle , Li Zexiang created “ mentor + Student ” Angel investment model , Influential . Inspired by Professor Li Zexiang , Another well-known entrepreneurial mentor in the robot field 、 Professor of Beihang —— Wang Tianmiao later set up a venture fund , It is used to support students' early entrepreneurship . For more than ten years , Wang Tianmiao's participation in investment or incubation projects has reached 60 More than a , Beihang students who have been instructed are active in China's hard science and technology arena .

Of course , Professor Li Zexiang also has a good partner —— Professor Gao Bingqiang . As a top expert in chips , Professor Gao Bingqiang used to be a tenured professor at the University of California, Berkeley , Former Bell Laboratories （Bell Laboratory） researcher , He is also a professor of Hong Kong University of science and Technology .

2000 Around the year , Professor Gao Bingqiang saw the strong vitality of domestic semiconductor development , Choose to leave academia , Start to invest in semiconductors at home . period , He is not only with Professor Li Zexiang 、 Professor Gan Jie hatched Dajiang together , And started Sillicon Federation International （SIF） Venture capital companies have successfully invested in many projects as angel investors . Recently listed chip company sitway , It is one of the representative cases of Professor Gao Bingqiang's participation in incubation .

2011 year , Dr. Xu Chen from Hong Kong University of science and technology founded STW in Shanghai , Focus on CMOS image sensor .2014 year , The company has just been established 3 year , Stevie is in crisis , I need to sell a car of the company to pay my salary . At this time , Professor Gao Bingqiang not only provided timely help, but also invested a sum of money , It also gives crucial suggestions on the technical direction . Since then, Stevie has entered the fast lane of development , Launch the first product 130 Megapixel HD CIS The chip became popular ,2017 The annual chip shipments reached 1 Million star . This year, 5 month , Sittwei landed on the scientific innovation board , The latest market value exceeds 220 One hundred million yuan .

Besides ,EDA Company overview Electronics 、 Broadcom integration, a wireless communication RF chip company 、 Sweeping robot enterprise Silver Star intelligence 、 Cloud whale intelligence …… Behind this group of high-profile hard technology companies , Professor Gao Bingqiang appeared .

Speaking of this , I have to mention another one in the venture capital circle “ iron lady ”—— Professor Gan Jie . She owns MIT （MIT） doctorate , Former Hong Kong University of science and Technology （HKUST） Professor, Department of finance, School of business administration , Now he is the vice president of Changjiang Business School 、 Professor of Finance .

Professor Gan Jie's advantages are shown in the field of high-end manufacturing . One of her important research topics is to conduct large-scale surveys of industrial enterprises on a regular basis every quarter , Based on this, the industrial economic prosperity index , And the unique research results of industrial economy have been widely concerned and appreciated at home and abroad . She participated in the incubation project , Except for Dajiang 、 Many Unicorn enterprises including Yunjing , And mobile energy storage unicorns EcoFlow Zhenghao 、AI Companies such as weiai intelligence .

Why do we need to teach incubation technology projects ？ Gan Jie once revealed the reasons behind , The cycle of scientific and technological innovation is very long , There are many elements needed for science and technology entrepreneurship . This is not like the Internet business model , Get it done BAT Can , They need ecosystem support more .“ Because of this , We build a real ecosystem , Can systematically help the entrepreneurial team .”

Interestingly , Whether it is Li Zexiang 、 Gao Bingqiang or Gan Jie 、 Zhuxiaorui , They have been active in the Greater Bay area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in the Pearl River Delta for many years . The reason is that for many start-ups , College is often the first stop to start . And Hong Kong universities have strong scientific research strength and leading edge in cutting-edge fields , It has trained a large number of well-trained people for the industry 、 Entrepreneurial talents with innovative ideas .

Nowadays, the Chuangke industrial chain is like a relay race , Hong Kong relies on strong basic scientific research , Become technological innovation 、 The source of mode innovation , So hold the first stick , However, there are only ideas and Demo Is not enough , How to realize the transformation of basic research achievements , We also need strong supply chain advantages and multi-level talent reserves , This is the advantage of Dawan District City represented by Shenzhen .

A founder from a Hong Kong University once shared his experience ：“ Hong Kong is adjacent to the Pearl River Delta with the most developed manufacturing industry in the world , The scientific research achievements of colleges and universities are easy to implement , It takes only oneortwo hours to drive to Shenzhen 、 dongguan , It can just make up for Hong Kong's lack of large-scale production .” therefore , Many mainland students graduate from Hong Kong universities , Often return to Shenzhen, Dawan District 、 Entrepreneurship in Dongguan and other cities .

In recent years , Academic entrepreneurship has become a common practice , A group of highly educated 、 Young founders with technical backgrounds made a collective debut . This is a rare scene in China's venture capital circle , As Professor Li Zexiang once said ：“ These cases are an inspiration to entrepreneurs , There will be more examples later , They haven't surfaced yet .”