Neil Shen, founding and managing partner of HongShan Capital Group.
Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg
Asia’s venture capital dealmaking has slowed over the past year, weighed down by China’s economic decoupling from the U.S. and its sluggish domestic economy. Despite the broader downturn, the unexpected rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek earlier this year reignited investor interest and cast a renewed spotlight on the country’s tech sector. The surging valuations of mega startups like ByteDance and Shein have put 15 investors from Asia on Forbes’ 24th annual Midas List, which ranks the world’s top venture capitalists. Among them, all but one come from China, with the sole exception, Jenny Lee of Granite Asia, hailing from Singapore.
Leading the pack of Asian investors this year is once again Neil Shen, the billionaire founding partner of HongShan Capital Group (HSG), the former Chinese arm of Sequoia Capital. His big bets on ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, have continued to pay off, helping to put him on No. 4 on this year’s Midas List. HSG has invested in multiple funding rounds of ByteDance since it led its Series C in 2014, when the short-video app operator was valued at $465 million. The company’s valuation has now reportedly grown to more than $300 billion, thanks to the massive popularity of TikTok and the company’s recent expansion into AI.
A number of HSG’s portfolio companies have also gone public over the past year. Among them is Chinese autonomous-driving chip developer Horizon Robotics, which saw its shares surge more than 80% since its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange in October. Others include Chinese robotaxi operator Pony AI, which went public on the Nasdaq in November, and AI drug discovery startup Xtalpi, which started trading in Hong Kong last June.
Richard Liu (No. 12), founding partner of 5Y Capital, is the second-highest ranked venture capitalist from Asia on the list. He is joined by fellow 5Y Capital partner Fisher Zhang (No. 47). A spinoff from Hong Kong property tycoon Ronnie Chan’s Morningside Group, 5Y Capital is best known for backing Chinese tech companies including ride-hailing behemoth Didi, ByteDance rival Kuaishou, smartphone giant Xiaomi and electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng. The firm has also invested in Horizon Robotics, Pony AI and Xtalpi.
The only other venture capital firm from Asia with more than one listee on this year’s Midas List is Granite Asia. The firm’s two senior managing partners, Jixun Foo and Jenny Lee, rank at No. 65 and No. 75, respectively. Granite Asia, which was formed following the 2024 split of GGV Capital’s Asia and U.S. operations, has earned recognition for its investments in Southeast Asia’s superapp Grab and China’s Xiaomi.
The list features two newcomers from Asia this year. Xi Cao, a former Sequoia China partner who cofounded Monolith in 2021, debuts on the list at No. 39. Cao in 2019 made an early investment in Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree, now a billionaire-dollar worth startup whose founder was invited to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s rare meeting with tech leaders in February. Monolith also invested in Moonshot AI, one of China’s most promising AI startups alongside DeepSeek.
IDG Capital partner Meng Lian is the other newcomer. Lian broke into this year’s Midas List at No. 52, thanks to his early investment in Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein. The company, best known for its trendy clothing at dirt cheap prices, was last valued at $66 billion in a funding round in 2023. It’s reportedly working towards a Hong Kong IPO after its proposed public listing in London failed to secure approval from Chinese regulators.
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