Moore Threads Funding Story: Early Investors Have Already Achieved Over 6,200x Returns

Author: Wang Manhua, Chen Mei

1572 times offline subscription multiple, fastest STAR Market approval in 88 days, the most expensive “hundred-yuan stock” of the year… With a series of numbers being broken, Moore Threads, known as “China’s NVIDIA,” was officially listed on the STAR Market today.

On the trading board, Moore Threads opened at a high of 688 yuan/share, up 502% from the issue price of 114.28 yuan/share. As of press time, the company’s market value is 280 billion yuan.

Looking back at Moore Threads’ financing history, the company has attracted capital attention since its inception, quickly becoming a “collective consensus” in the primary market—established in 2020, it completed two rounds of financing within three months, then steadily advanced with one round per year, with cumulative financing exceeding 10 billion yuan, and 86 shareholders before the IPO.

As the earliest investor, if calculated based on the latest 280 billion yuan valuation, Peixian Qianyao’s initial investment of 1.9 million yuan has grown to about 11.898 billion yuan, a return of an astonishing 6,262 times.

Of course, Moore Threads’ financing story also includes some missed opportunities. Earlier this year, Touzhongwang wrote about an investor who missed the chance to invest in Moore Threads’ old shares because he couldn’t gather 10 million yuan in one day.

From the frantic scramble for early-stage financing to the fierce competition for shares before listing, the five-year capital battle around Moore Threads has not only witnessed the rapid growth of China’s semiconductor industry but also once again proved a profound truth: on the road to breakthroughs in core technology, the most expensive cost is often not money, but the opportunity cost paid due to hesitation.

So, in this wave of hard tech investment, what qualities does this company possess that allow it to transcend cycles and become a core asset that capital is unwilling to let go of? What kind of industry judgment and value persistence are hidden behind those seemingly “risky bets”?

With these questions in mind, let’s look back at how the “first domestic GPU stock” was born.

“A High Starting Point Debut”

Moore Threads was founded in 2020, just as China’s GPU sector was booming, with players like Iluvatar CoreX and Biren Technology entering the scene, and enthusiasm for semiconductors in the capital market reaching unprecedented heights.

Despite many competitors, Moore Threads, bearing the title of “China’s NVIDIA,” still had a “stunning” start—completing two rounds of financing in three months, reaching a valuation of over $1 billion in less than 100 days, breaking the industry’s record for the fastest unicorn status that year.

The company’s first round of financing took place in September 2020, with investors “Peixian Qianyao” and “Shenzhen Minghao.”

My colleague Yang Boyu once mentioned this investment: one of Peixian Qianyao’s shareholders, Zhou Qi, has deep ties with the veteran graphics card manufacturer Colorful, being a personal investor in its affiliated companies. As early as 2000, Colorful cooperated with NVIDIA, and in 2010 became a core AIC partner of NVIDIA.

Another key detail in this round: Shenzhen Minghao joined thanks to Peixian Qianyao’s introduction. As the earliest external investor, Peixian Qianyao received a preferential price of 1 yuan per registered capital—at a pre-investment valuation of 10 million yuan, contributing 1.9 million yuan.

Looking back now, this 1.9 million yuan “vote of confidence” has brought a generous return. According to the prospectus, Peixian Qianyao still held 16,998,700 shares of Moore Threads before listing, accounting for 4.2494% of shares (pre-issue). Based on the latest 280 billion yuan valuation before press time, their holdings are valued at 11.898 billion yuan, a 6,262-fold increase.

If Moore Threads’ first round of financing was still colored by “familiar connections,” the subsequent angel round was more in line with the standard narrative for a star project.

In December 2020, Moore Threads completed its angel round, with leading institutions such as 5Y Capital, Sequoia China, Well-known Investment, and H&T. According to an investor, when the round was finalized, Moore Threads “didn’t even have a prototype,” but what impressed the leading institutions was its impeccable team.

Moore Threads’ founder Zhang Jianzhong was once a key “lieutenant” of Jensen Huang, becoming NVIDIA’s global VP and China GM in 2006, leading the team to build a complete GPU ecosystem in China, and turning the Greater China region into NVIDIA’s most important GPU market globally, witnessing the industry’s evolution from graphics processing to neural network acceleration.

His team is equally stellar—all core members hail from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, ARM, and other global tech giants, with an average of over ten years of experience.

“Moore Threads has a world-class modern GPU architecture design team.” That’s the evaluation from Zhou Kui, partner at Sequoia Capital China Fund. Yunxiu Capital’s comment is even more straightforward: “Moore Threads is one of the few truly world-class domestic teams covering the complete architecture of GPU R&D, market sales, and service support.”

In short, a top-tier team, top-notch technology, and perfect timing together created Moore Threads’ high starting point.

“As Long As the Chip Is Made, the Future Is Limitless”

With the previous financing as a foundation, Moore Threads completely ignited the capital market’s enthusiasm in the next two rounds.

In February 2021, the company completed its Pre-A round, co-led by Shenzhen Capital Group, Sequoia China, and GGV Capital, with participation from CM Venture Capital, ByteDance, Pony.ai, Sunlight Fusion Capital, Haisong Capital, Well-known Investment, First Capital, 5Y Capital, H&T, Minghao, and others.

In November of the same year, it raised 2 billion yuan in an A round from Shanghai Guosheng Capital, 5Y Capital, Bohai Zhongsheng Fund under BOC International, CCB International, Qianhai Mother Fund, China Merchants Securities, Hubei High-Quality Development Industrial Fund, and others, creating two “group buying” spectacles with more than a dozen institutions.

Sunlight Fusion Capital participated in the Pre-A round at the beginning of 2021. The institution had been deeply involved in the semiconductor sector for two years, tracking the AI chip field since late 2018, covering almost all top targets at the time. After National Day 2020, Moore Threads, only three months old, came into view.

Zheng Yan, head of Sunlight Fusion Capital’s technology sector, is a Tsinghua graduate in electronic technology. He admitted that Moore Threads’ valuation was not low at the time, but the team took only two months from initial contact to investment.

The “top team” was still the key anchor for rapid investment decisions. In his words, founder Zhang Jianzhong served as NVIDIA’s global VP and China GM from April 2006 to September 2020, “single-handedly creating China’s GPU ecosystem and industry chain.” In addition, chip R&D head Ma Fengxiang’s rich tape-out experience, and the company’s pragmatic approach to “prioritizing the speed and certainty of the first chip launch,” aligned with the team’s technical judgment. Despite some market doubts about the company’s technical roadmap, the team knew that for a startup big chip company, quickly breaking through with the first chip and fast iteration in follow-up development were most critical.

“When we first contacted Moore Threads, we formed a clear judgment: we had full confidence in Moore Threads’ industry-leading GPU ecosystem, industry chain, and sales capabilities. As long as the chip is made, the future is limitless,” Zheng Yan said.

Of course, besides technical strength, what also impressed him was the company’s high internal recognition of Zhang Jianzhong. “In our exchanges with the Moore Threads team, I found that all employees had a strong sense of identity and belonging to the company and its founder. Moore Threads showed strong cohesion, with employees fully engaged and highly motivated.”

Investor Zhang Yuan (pseudonym), who also joined in the Pre-A round, recalled a small episode: an LP once questioned the high valuation due to the company’s net profit performance, but the team, firmly optimistic about its prospects, believed the price was still within a reasonable range, successfully convinced the investors, and completed the deal on time.

The market rewarded these decisive investors. According to investors close to Moore Threads, in the Pre-A and A rounds, institutions that failed to pay on time faced an upward valuation adjustment in the same round.

Later, in the B round led by China Mobile Digital New Economy Industry Fund and Hexie Health Insurance, the pre-investment valuation soared to 22.5 billion yuan, a significant jump from the 3.7 billion yuan valuation in the Pre-A round.

Looking back at this investment four years ago, Zheng Yan said that from a company development perspective, Moore Threads has consistently exceeded his expectations. According to the initial plan, the company aimed to launch one chip per year, three in four years, but actual progress saw a significant increase in R&D efficiency: the first chip was delivered on time, and subsequent chips iterated even faster, achieving a “three chips in three years” leap.

What was even more surprising was the success of product commercialization. In late 2022, Moore Threads held its autumn launch event, introducing the industry’s first domestic trend graphics card MTT S80, the meta-computing integrated machine MCCX, and a series of GPU software stacks and application tools, breaking the industry’s “only show chips, not applications” curse. Subsequently, its self-developed graphics card went on sale on JD.com at 2,999 yuan, making it one of the few AI chip companies in China able to land in the To C market—Zheng Yan said this means ordinary gamers, investment institutions, competitors, and even overseas users can access Moore Threads’ chip products, demonstrating the team’s absolute confidence in their technology.

In post-investment tracking, Zheng Yan’s team found that Moore Threads’ R&D milestones were so precise that “the deviation in key engineering node completion time did not exceed one month.” Unexpectedly, AI functionality landed ahead of schedule: initially, the company planned to focus on graphics image processing first, then move into AI, but in reality, AI functionality was integrated into the product line a generation earlier, further expanding market potential.

The prospectus shows that by 2023, the company achieved revenue of several hundred million yuan, validating its commercial viability. In 2023, Moore Threads’ revenue was 124 million yuan, up 169% from 46 million yuan in 2022.

“There Is No Darkest Hour for China’s GPU”

Looking back at Moore Threads’ growth trajectory, there has never been a lack of dramatic turns. In 2023, it was a key watershed year for both the company and its investors.

On October 17, 2023, the United States added Moore Threads to the Entity List. Coupled with new restrictions on integrated circuit computing power density and bandwidth density, multiple pressures targeted this fast-growing Chinese AI chip company, presenting the toughest challenge since its founding.

“Unforgettable.” Investor A described the feeling that day: “I was on a business trip in Xuzhou. When the news came, I immediately started making calls in the hotel garden. In fact, not just Moore Threads, the entire Chinese integrated circuit industry fell into a certain degree of panic—almost all leading AI chip companies faced the same dilemma: they had to redesign to access advanced manufacturing capacity; the primary market financing environment froze overnight.”

As an early investor, A’s institution also had brief hesitation internally. However, after close communication with the company’s management, they quickly regained confidence. A recalled that, faced with the sudden crisis, Moore Threads management did not choose to retreat defensively, but instead clearly stated to all shareholders: “Increase R&D investment and push forward next-generation product development with all our strength.”

A subsequent internal letter from Zhang Jianzhong further confirmed A’s account. In the letter, he emphasized: “There is no ‘darkest hour’ for China’s GPU. Moore Threads will see the mission of building the best full-featured GPU in China through to the end.” He also clarified four key directions: accelerate independent R&D and innovation, refine quality products, promote application implementation, and build an efficient team.

This statement and action, like a shot in the arm, greatly stabilized market confidence and quickly translated into tangible capital support: within ten days of the internal letter, Moore Threads announced completion of a B+ round financing of several hundred million yuan, with investors including Zhongguancun Science City, Houxue Capital, Zhonghe Capital, Tuofeng Investment, CY Capital, and Hengji Puyue.

Many investors described this round of financing under extreme industry pressure as “extremely precious.” This round not only injected solid confidence into the market, but also allowed concerned shareholders to breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

At the same time, Moore Threads showed its resilience in this tough battle with continued growth in performance. In 2024, the company’s revenue further grew to 438 million yuan, up 252% year-on-year from 2023, with the revenue curve always trending upwards. For first half of 2025: operating income was about 702 million yuan, exceeding the total revenue of the previous three years.

The “Heat” Before IPO and the Inability to Grab Old Shares

Many early investors personally experienced Moore Threads’ valuation cycle from “soaring” to “pullback” and then to “surge,” but what made them most keenly feel the capital market’s enthusiasm was in the second half of 2024.

In early November 2024, Moore Threads signed a listing counseling agreement with CITIC Securities, officially launching the IPO process. Once the news broke, listed company H&T, which holds Moore Threads equity, nearly doubled in just a few trading days—the wealth effect was presented to the public for the first time so intuitively.

The external environment also underwent a fundamental shift. With the state’s continued strengthening of tech innovation policies and the full outbreak of the AI industry, chip companies like Cambricon continued to soar in the secondary market. The entire market began to re-examine Moore Threads—with its value as “China’s NVIDIA” rediscovered and revalued.

The primary market frenzy was fully reflected in the year-end Pre-IPO round. CVSource shows that as many as 38 investment institutions participated in this round, contributing an additional 5.225 billion yuan, with a pre-investment valuation of up to 24.62 billion yuan.

More shocking than these numbers was the almost magical scramble among various capital parties for shares, with competition extremely fierce. In stories we heard, peers begged for transfers of old shares, LPs used “invest in the next fund” as a condition to get a ticket, and some even contacted through family connections; truly, “one ticket was hard to get.”

In early 2025, Moore Threads announced another strategic investment from Gaoliang Capital, Mindeboya, Shanda Investment, and others.

Investor Zhang Yuan mentioned above revealed that their institution also wanted to make an additional investment at this point, but even as an early shareholder, they couldn’t get any allocation. Helplessly, they had to invest in another competitor, which also recently announced an IPO plan.

There were more tales of regret circulating in the market. Investor B showed me a chat record: when Moore Threads’ IPO news first broke in November last year, a friend reminded him that there were shares available at a valuation of about 24 billion yuan, but he declined, citing “too much uncertainty about the IPO.”

You all know the rest of the story: Moore Threads passed approval in just 88 days, with an IPO valuation of about 53.7 billion yuan, setting the largest STAR Market IPO record this year; those who once hesitated, missed, or gave up can only look at this number and quietly calculate the returns that could have been theirs.

From bursting onto the scene in 2020 and peaking at debut, to being hit by a “black swan” and entering a period of adjustment, and now successfully landing on the STAR Market, Moore Threads’ five-year entrepreneurial journey can be described as a hard-core breakthrough full of twists and turns.

On November 21, at the IPO roadshow, founder Zhang Jianzhong reiterated his original intention: “Although the company still lags behind international giants like NVIDIA and AMD in technology accumulation and product performance, especially in building ultra-large-scale GPU clusters and ecosystem maturity, with a clear gap, some performance indicators of our products are already close to or at the international advanced level, achieving breakthroughs in some core ‘choke point’ areas.”

He gave as an example that the single-precision floating-point performance of the MTT S80 graphics card is close to NVIDIA’s RTX 3060, and the thousand-card intelligent computing cluster built on MTT S5000 even surpasses foreign products of the same generation in the same scale.

Zhang Jianzhong also mentioned that, driven by external restrictive policies and national data security needs, China’s GPU market is accelerating localization, and domestic GPU companies are continuously breaking through intellectual property technology barriers.

According to Frost & Sullivan’s forecast, in the future, the localization rate of China’s GPU market will increase significantly, gradually replacing imported products; the current explosion in AI computing power demand has undoubtedly opened an unprecedented development window for domestic GPUs.