Shenzhen Nanshan: Professors are queuing up for IPOs—
Kuaiwei Intelligence recently completed a 10 billion yuan financing round, with a valuation exceeding 100 billion yuan, and its plan to list in Hong Kong has surfaced. Simiao Technology filed its application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March this year. The founders of both companies are professors from Hong Kong universities.
It is no coincidence that Benmo Power, incubated and invested in by Professor Li Zexiang of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, has also reached the doorstep of the capital market.
An even longer queue lies ahead. In early July, the "X-Day" Xili Lake Roadshow Hong Kong Tech Innovation Special Session was held, where a group of teams with Hong Kong university backgrounds took the stage to seek industrial landing points. The path from universities to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is being paved wider and wider in Shenzhen.
A Group of Professors Queuing Up to Ring the Bell
The latest news of a listing comes from Kuaiwei Intelligence.
This embodied AI company headquartered in Shenzhen's Nanshan district is considering listing in Hong Kong. Not long ago, Kuaiwei Intelligence completed a 10 billion yuan Series B financing round, with a post-investment valuation exceeding 100 billion yuan.
The company's founder, Jia Kui, is a tenured professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. As early as 2016, he led a team to establish the Geometric Perception and Intelligence Laboratory, focusing on 3D spatial perception, generative simulation, and robotic perception. In 2021, Jia Kui founded Kuaiwei Intelligence in Shenzhen's Nanshan district, bringing years of research into the industrial field.
Today, the company has delivered over a thousand embodied AI implementation projects, serving leading enterprises such as Midea, GAC Group, and Zoomlion. In the first half of 2026, Kuaiwei Intelligence achieved revenue of 100 million yuan, with an annual target of 300 million yuan.
In five years, a university research project has grown into a company valued at 100 billion yuan. This path is now emerging densely in Shenzhen.
Simiao Technology is also on the eve of its IPO.
Founder Professor Jia Jiaya was long affiliated with The Chinese University of Hong Kong and now serves as a Chair Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Dean of the von Neumann Institute, specializing in computer vision and artificial intelligence. He founded Simiao Technology in 2019, entering the smart manufacturing and industrial AI sector. Headquartered in Hong Kong, its R&D center and factories are rooted in Shenzhen.
Now, Simiao Technology has submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to become the "first stock of industrial AI agents." The prospectus reveals that Simiao Technology has completed seven financing rounds, raising approximately 565 million USD in total, with a post-latest-round valuation of 1.23 billion USD.
Beyond professors starting their own businesses, companies they have incubated and nurtured are also intensively moving toward the capital market.
In February this year, Shenzhen-based warehouse robotics company Hairobotics filed its application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company received early support from professors such as Li Zexiang and Gao Bingqiang of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, growing from a laboratory project into a leading global warehouse robotics enterprise. Another robotics company, Benmo Power, has also passed the hearing for its Hong Kong listing. Founder Zhang Di studied under Li Zexiang, and the entrepreneurial direction continues his long-term focus on robotics and smart manufacturing. Additionally, Cool Chip, which received early investment and long-term guidance from Professor Gao Bingqiang, has also initiated its IPO process.
Turning back to Shenzhen's Nanshan district, the list of professor-founded ventures continues to grow. Yuanhua Intelligent was founded in Nanshan, Shenzhen in 2018, co-founded by Meng Qinghu, former Professor and Head of the Department of Electronic Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The company developed China's first HX self-developed robotic arm for orthopedic surgery. Another surgical robotics company, Canostics, was founded by Professor Ou Guowei of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, raising nearly 2 billion yuan in the past year.
From university laboratories to industrial sites in Shenzhen, spanning AI, embodied intelligence, and high-end medical equipment, a series of companies founded by professors have successively reached the IPO threshold, and the young entrepreneurs they have nurtured are beginning to take over.
The Next Batch of Super Companies
Beyond IPOs, more projects from Hong Kong universities have just emerged from the laboratories.
In early July, the "X-Day" Xili Lake Roadshow Hong Kong Tech Innovation Special Session was held at the Shenzhen University Town. Six projects with Hong Kong university backgrounds took the stage, covering new energy, display materials, robotics, digital sports, smart airports, and healthcare. While their technical directions differed, their next step for industrialization unanimously pointed to Shenzhen.
Before the roadshow began, several investors long involved in Shenzhen-Hong Kong tech investments first discussed the unique advantages of Hong Kong's scientific research.
Junhao Capital partner Yu Jun mentioned that Hong Kong, with its approximately 1,100 square kilometers of land, hosts a high density of universities and research resources, which is rare globally.
"Many overseas scientists returning to China easily choose Hong Kong as their first stop." Gobi Partners Managing Director Li Guanle observed that the English-speaking environment, global academic network, and widespread alumni resources overseas enable Hong Kong's research teams to continuously connect with international talent, technology, and markets.
A host of cutting-edge technologies have thus emerged from Hong Kong universities. However, the real challenge appears outside the laboratory.
Technology must cross the pilot and engineering stages and find application scenarios where customers are willing to pay. Yu Jun repeatedly emphasized "real market demand" on site. Whether a scientific research achievement can grow into a company ultimately still has to withstand market testing.
Shenzhen happens to take over precisely this stage.
Here, manufacturing, supply chains, and industrial clients are concentrated, along with dense listings, investment institutions, and industrial capital. This allows for quicker entry into factories and application sites, enabling iterative improvements through repeated deliveries.
Zhuoshi Investment founding partner Zhong Qiankai stated: "Collaboration between the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong has become increasingly close in recent years, and many tangible results can be seen."
He has encountered many semiconductor, AI, and materials projects within Hong Kong universities. Much of the technology has reached the conversion stage, and the next step requires "bridging" between the research teams and mainland China's industries.
Such channels are gradually being established. Multiple universities, including The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Hong Kong Baptist University, have established presences in Shenzhen, shortening the distance between university research and industrial sites.
What Xili Lake is doing is bringing research teams into the market earlier and allowing industries to see the technology sooner.
Since its launch, "X-Day" has held 18 themed roadshows, attracting over 520 project registrations cumulatively. Fifty-three enterprises have received equity investments exceeding 2.096 billion yuan, 32 enterprises have received bank credit lines exceeding 1.145 billion yuan, and 8 non-local projects have established entities in Nanshan.
Currently, this channel is being paved between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. More teams are setting out from here.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Investment Community" (ID: pedaily2012), author: Wang Lu
