- Three Chinese deep-tech startups have raised nearly 1 billion yuan in fresh funding
- The deals highlight continued investor appetite for strategic technologies
Qasky bags $89 million from Series B round to scale quantum tech
Hefei-based quantum technology company Qasky (问天量子) has raised 600 million yuan ($88.67 million) in a Series B funding round, bringing in new investors including Zhongtian Fortune, High Fund and Lasting Blessings Foundation.
Founded in 2009, Qasky is among China’s earliest companies focused on commercializing quantum information technologies.
It is a national high-tech enterprise, a specialized “little giant” manufacturer, and leads the country’s quantum cryptography standards working group.
The company has built a full-stack portfolio spanning quantum-secure communications, quantum measurement, quantum chips, post-quantum cryptography and research and education platforms, backed by more than 200 core intellectual property assets.
Its products have been deployed across computing clusters, government, finance and energy applications.
The latest funding will support commercialization of its core technologies, expansion of quantum random number chip production capacity, and development of AI-integrated quantum products.
Senior Auto secures $44 million Series C to advance autonomous freight trucks
Senior Auto (斯年智驾), an autonomous heavy-duty trucking company based in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, has secured 300 million yuan in a Series C funding round from Industrial Securities Asset Capital and Union Capital.
Founded in 2020, the company develops autonomous driving systems for heavy logistics and has deployed commercial solutions across ports, industrial parks, steel mills, railway terminals and highway freight corridors.
The new capital will be used to develop its next-generation automotive-grade autonomous driving platform, including upgrading domain controllers from industrial-grade to automotive-grade standards.
Senior Auto has developed a full-stack technology platform covering autonomous driving algorithms, vehicle-grade domain controllers and cloud dispatching systems.
It has also established continuous autonomous freight operations along Zhejiang’s Yiwu-Ningbo-Zhoushan logistics corridor, linking ports, freight hubs and trunk transportation.
HanforSpace nets nearly $15 million to challenge civil aircraft engine giants
Suzhou-based civil aviation engine developer HanforSpace Technology (汉发长空) has raised nearly 100 million yuan in a pre-Series A funding round led by F&G Venture, with participation from Zhidao Capital and Seraph Investment.
The company is developing a modular core-engine platform centered on a 400-kilowatt-class engine architecture that can be adapted into turboshaft, turboprop and hybrid-electric propulsion systems, targeting a civil aviation market long dominated by international engine manufacturers.
Its first turboshaft engine, the S4, has completed 60 hours of endurance testing and achieved a measured maximum output of 426 kilowatts.
The engine has entered flight-test preparations, while the P4 turboprop and H4 hybrid-electric variants are expected to roll off production lines and begin ground testing later this year.
The fresh funding will be used to improve technology readiness and engineering validation as the company accelerates toward mass production, which it plans to begin in 2027.
