Qingdao BGI Win-Win II Venture Capital Fund for Life & Health Industry Successfully Launched

On the morning of December 10, 2021, the founding conference of the Qingdao BGI Win-Win No. 2 Life and Health Industry Venture Capital Fund was held inBGI Northern Center, Sino-German Ecopark, QingdaoSuccessfully held. Deputy Secretary of the Working Committee of Qingdao West Coast New Area, Director of the Administrative Committee of Qingdao Free Trade Zone, and Director of the Administrative Committee of Qingdao Sino-German EcoparkZhao Shiyu, Deputy District MayorShao Rui, fund investor representatives, corporate representatives, and other guests—totaling more than 60 attendees—jointly witnessed the signing of the partnership agreement for the Qingdao BGI Win-Win No. 2 Venture Capital Investment Fund (hereinafter referred to as the “Fund”) and the signing ceremony for investment projects, through a hybrid online-and-offline format.

With an initial closing size of RMB 500 million, the Fund is established in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao City, Shandong Province. As the first life and health industry fund in the New Area, it is managed by BGI Win-Win (Shenzhen) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. Targeting emerging technologies and industries, the Fund focuses on strategic investments across the gene technology industry chain. Leveraging the New Area’s robust foundation in the life and health sector with a specialty in gene technology, the Fund primarily invests in high-quality, innovative projects at early to mid-stages in fields such as gene technology, synthetic biology, cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceuticals, and innovative medical devices.

The fund attractedBGI Group, Guofa Shares, industrial investors,CICC Qiyuan, Naxin Minxing, and Sino-German United Groupmarket-oriented fund of funds or enterprises, andShandong New Kinetic Energy Guidance Fund, Qingdao Guidance Fund, with capital contributions from three-tier government guidance funds, including the West Coast New Area Guidance Fund, is committed to effectively addressing the financing needs of life and health enterprises, creating a market-oriented investment platform for the life and health industry ecosystem, and further enhancing Shandong’s endogenous development momentum, expanding its external development space, and optimizing industrial layout.

At the beginning of the meeting, the General Manager of BGI Win-Win and the representative appointed by the Executive Partner of the FundLiuYu introduced the fund’s overview. He stated that, as the fund’s management team, they would take promoting the development of the life and health industry as their mission. Based on diligent and responsible management, and leveraging the BGI Northern Center, they would actively provide various value-added services to project companies, ensure smooth exits for both investment projects and the fund, and work hand in hand with partners to achieve mutually beneficial growth.

Director of BGI Group, Chairman of BGI Win-WinMei YonghongHaving witnessed the development of the West Coast New Area over the past six years, he expressed amazement, awe, and delight at its transformative changes. He discussed the original intentions behind establishing the fund management company a few years ago: First, given the uncertainties in the life sciences sector and the lack of fully clear commercial pathways, the fund model was adopted to leverage professional investment institutions for expert guidance, thereby fostering the inception and growth of the industry. Second, to promote the development of industrial clusters, harness synergistic advantages, and drive rapid, high-level industrial advancement. He believes that the 21st century is the era of biotechnology (BT), and that life sciences and biotechnology will bring about the most profound and sweeping changes to the planet, human society, and every individual. He highly commended the New Area for its strategic vision, sense of responsibility, mission, and commitment in aligning with emerging industry trends, and sincerely thanked the New Area for its full trust and support in BGI. He conveyed confidence that the fund would leverage the New Area’s industrial foundation to propel the development of the life and health industries.

Shao RuiIn his address, the Deputy District Mayor stated that over the five years since the BGI Qingdao project was established in the Sino-German Ecopark, it has built a globally leading marine gene bank, set up a BGI Mfg production base, founded the Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, and implemented a district-wide public welfare program providing universal access to genetic testing. These initiatives have effectively leveraged the pioneering role of a frontier life sciences institution in areas such as life and health, marine resource development, advanced manufacturing, epidemic prevention and control, and cutting-edge science, yielding a series of breakthrough achievements. On this occasion, BGI WinWin and West Coast New Area have joined hands in the investment sector by establishing the first fund in the district dedicated to investing in the life and health industry. This initiative will effectively address corporate development needs and create favorable opportunities for advancing the life and health industry in the district.

CEO of BGI Group, as the representative of cornerstone investorsYin YeWe extend our heartfelt gratitude to leaders and distinguished individuals from Shandong Province and Qingdao City, the West Coast New Area, and the Management Committee of the Sino-German Ecopark, with special appreciation to Director Zhao Shiyu for his support and warm care toward BGI. Mr. Yin affirmed the Fund’s work and expressed his continued support for its development. He pointed out that the current achievements of BGI Win-Win reflect its adherence to the philosophy of research-and-development-driven investment and its ability to rise to challenges at critical moments. As one of the representative anchor investors, he hopes that the fund management team will always uphold its original aspiration of benefiting humanity, thereby promoting faster and better development of China’s biotechnology industry.

Managing Director, CICC Qiyuan National Emerging Industry Venture Capital Guidance FundZhou ZhihuiSpeaking as a representative of fund investors, he noted that China’s market-oriented equity investment is undergoing a transition from quantitative expansion to qualitative improvement. Investment targets are shifting from business model innovation to technological innovation, thereby fostering original innovation. Geographically, investment focus is moving from first-tier cities to provinces, municipalities, and regions with solid industrial and technological foundations and robust economic vitality. He highly commended the significant achievements made by Shandong Province, Qingdao City, and its various districts in emerging industries. He also affirmed the professional expertise, resource aggregation, extensive experience, and contributions of BGI Genomics and the BGI Win-Win management team in the fields of genomics and life sciences. Looking ahead, he stated that they would join forces with investment partners to support BGI Win-Win, continue to nurture high-quality enterprises that are global leaders in genomics, deliver strong value returns to limited partners, and build an ecosystem for technological innovation in the life sciences.

Deputy General Manager of Shandong New Momentum FundLiu KuiAs a long-standing friend of Shandong Province, BGI has established the BGI Northern Center in Qingdao, contributing BGI’s strength to the advancement of Shandong’s life sciences industry. With the establishment of this fund, we can leverage BGI’s professional expertise and the financial synergy of the four-tier fund structure spanning central, provincial, municipal, and district levels. By focusing on the life sciences industry, we will actively promote breakthroughs in major key core technologies, strengthen industrial and enterprise cultivation, and accelerate the high-quality development of the life sciences sector. We look forward to engaging in broader, deeper, and higher-level strategic cooperation with BGI and its partners through this collaboration, achieving complementary advantages and win-win outcomes, and delivering substantial results that inject new momentum and vitality into Shandong Province’s high-quality development.

Deputy General Manager of Qingdao Caitong Group Co., Ltd.Xu HuiHe stated that Qingdao and the BGI Win-Win Fund share aligned industrial investment needs and common investment philosophies, expressing confidence in smooth future collaboration. He expressed hope that the establishment of this fund will leverage multiple advantages—including policy support, capital, and resources—to deeply tap into enterprises within Qingdao’s life and health sector, attract non-local medical companies to settle in Qingdao, foster coordinated development, and thereby boost the development of Qingdao’s medical industry and the enhancement of its healthcare standards.

Chairman of Guofa SharesPan LibinHe shared his positive experiences from the previous collaboration with BGI Win-Win on the Nanjing Fund, highlighting four key points: first, the pleasant cooperation with the Win-Win team, characterized by aligned mindsets and shared values; second, the team’s strong professional expertise and complementary resources and backgrounds; third, full recognition of the team’s dedication and professionalism; and fourth, affirmation of the team’s reliability and pragmatic approach. Mr. Pan stated that with prosperity on the horizon and a commitment to steady, long-term growth, Guofa Shares intends to maintain its deep partnership with BGI Win-Win, expressing confidence that this renewed investment in the Qingdao No. 2 Fund marks another promising beginning.

At the conference, the Deputy General Manager and Managing Partner of BGI Win-WinWang LeiThe proposal for the establishment of Qingdao BGI Win-Win No. 2 Venture Capital Investment Fund was also presented. The meeting deliberated and approved proposals regarding the appointment of the fund manager, investment committee members, observers, and the annual budget.

Ten representatives of the fund’s investors signed the partnership agreement through a hybrid online and offline ceremony, marking the official launch of the first fund in Qingdao West Coast New Area dedicated to investing in the life and health industry.

At the meeting, Qingdao BGI Win-Win No. 2 Venture Capital Fund also signed investment agreements with representatives of several outstanding companies among the four proposed investment projects.

Deputy Secretary of the Working Committee of Qingdao West Coast New Area, Director of the Administrative Committee of Qingdao Free Trade Zone, and Director of the Administrative Committee of Qingdao Sino-German EcoparkZhao Shiyu, Director of BGI Group and Chairman of BGI Win-WinMei Yonghong, Deputy District MayorShao Rui, Deputy General Manager of Qingdao Caitong GroupXu Hui, General Manager of Qingdao BGILiu JunnianWitness the signing.

Attendees included officials from the Finance Bureaus of Qingdao City and the West Coast New Area, heads of relevant departments in the Qingdao Free Trade Zone and the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone, representatives from provincial, municipal, and district-level state-owned enterprises such as Shandong Port Financial Holdings, Qingdao Chengtou, Qingdao Huatong, Qingdao Guoxin, Haifa Group, and Guozhu Assets, as well as representatives of listed company partners in the BGI Win-Win cooperative industry. Ji Changtao, Investment Partner, and Zhan Deying, Managing Partner of BGI Win-Win Investment, attended the meeting as non-voting delegates.

Finally, the attendees posed for a group photo.

On the day of the signing, good news came from Canaan Healthcare, a leading enterprise in rare disease drug development and an investment project of BGI Win-Win’s previous funds, which successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

2021 marked the inaugural year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan. The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 proposed expanding and strengthening strategic emerging industries, with a focus on seizing opportunities in future industrial development, cultivating pioneering and pillar industries, concentrating on the new generation of biotechnology, and promoting the concept of scaling up the bioeconomy. Against the backdrop of innovative development in life sciences, BGI Win-Win, as a professional investment institution specializing in life and health sectors—including gene technology, synthetic biology, cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceuticals, and innovative medical devices—will further facilitate the innovative advancement of the life sciences industry.

Key Investment Cases of BGI Win-Win:

BGI Win-Win (Shenzhen) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. is a private equity fund management institution established through the collaboration between a renowned professional investment team in the life and health sector and BGI Genomics, a leading enterprise in gene technology. As a market-oriented industrial investment firm, it leverages the dual advantages of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) and Venture Capital (VC) institutions, combining industrial resources with flexible decision-making mechanisms. The company aims to jointly lay out investments in the life sciences field, build a market-operated investment platform for the life and health industry ecosystem, and achieve resource sharing and win-win development among industrial partners, fund investors, and portfolio companies. Since commencing formal operations over three years ago, it has invested in more than 20 life and health projects, with assets under management exceeding RMB 2 billion. The team’s historical cumulative investments surpass 80 projects.

In August 2016, the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government, the Administrative Committee of the West Coast New Area, and the BGI-Shenzhen Institute of Life Sciences jointly signed a cooperation agreement to establish BGI Qingdao in the Qingdao Sino-German Ecopark. The total investment for the BGI Qingdao project amounts to RMB 3 billion, covering a land area of 60 mu with a total floor area of 60,000 square meters. The first phase, with an investment of RMB 700 million, established the BGI Qingdao Genomics Research Institute. This initiative aims to create the world’s largest comprehensive carrier for the National Marine Gene Bank and accelerate its application for official listing. It involves constructing the “Three Banks, Three Platforms, and One Center” public life science research platform—comprising a Sample Bank, Database, Living Organism Bank, Sequencing and Phenotypic Digitalization Platform, Genome Synthesis and Editing Platform, Spatial-Temporal Omics Platform, and Marine Multi-Omics Research Center. The project has attracted the landing of industrial projects such as BGI Group, MGI Tech, BGI Cell, BGI Medical Laboratory, and BGI Gongying. By clustering and cultivating a life and health industry characterized by genomic technology, it strives to fully realize the strategic layout of “Shenzhen in the South, Qingdao in the North.”Since its establishment in 2016, BGI Qingdao has taken the lead in launching public welfare genetic testing programs for women and newborns in the West Coast New Area, with plans to gradually achieve full coverage of such public welfare genetic testing projects across Qingdao City, thereby extending the benefits of genomic technology to public health. The institute has obtained more than 40 qualifications, including designation as a specialized branch of the National Marine Technology Transfer Center and recognition as the Qingdao Marine Biological Multi-Omics Technology Development and Application Engineering Research Center, yielding a series of high-level scientific research achievements. While rooted in marine science yet not limited to it, BGI Qingdao has continuously enhanced its self-sustaining capabilities and launched comprehensive initiatives in emerging and leading industrial sectors such as the marine economy, public health, genomics, and high-end equipment. To date, it has built the world’s largest National Marine Gene Bank (in preparation), with its life science research platforms fully operational. Continuing to play a leading role as a research institution, it has initially formed an agglomeration effect for a life and health industrial base centered on genomic science, providing sustained and strong momentum for the vigorous development of Qingdao’s life and health industry.