VCs unite to spur Chinese academic innovation
A new venture capital (VC) firm is raising its seed fund to spur a new generation of startups in China. Shanghai-based Apuri BioVenture believes that funding early discoveries at universities is key to the growth of China’s biotechnology sector. The intention is to move beyond China’s copycat approach to start translating local innovation into startups. “China is entering a phase of [scientific] discovery dividend,” said Apuri founder Jun Bao. Biocentury in a recent interview.
Bao is a veteran biotech executive who most recently served as chief commercial officer of Biotheus, a bispecific antibody company acquired by BioNTech in 2025. To create Apuri, he was joined by Frank Ye, a VC and former investment banker, and Jian Zhang, a professor of stem cell biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University, and CEO of two companies. Apuri’s strategy is to seek promising research from its network of scientists across China, looking for disruptive technologies with a plausible path to commercialization. Apuri builds relationships with scholars early in their careers and remains engaged even when their research is not ready to come to fruition.
