The government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) and Hidden Hill Capital have made a strategic investment in Shanghai-based startup CorePilot. Separately, Hong Kong-listed AI drug developer Insilico Medicine proposed to build a Chinese yuan fund in partnership with its Series E investors Value Partners Group and China’s state-owned Shanghai Pudong Development Group.
HKIC, Hidden Hill back Chinese EDA startup CorePilot
The HKIC and GLP China’s growth equity firm Hidden Hill Capital have made a strategic investment in Shanghai-based startup CorePilot.
CorePilot, founded in November 2015, offers digital chip verification Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and high-speed interface controller IP solutions to chipmaking clients and research institutes in China and globally. Its flagship integrated hardware emulation and prototyping verification tool, MimicPro®, is adopted globally by chipmakers and research bodies for developing advanced CPU, GPU, AI, AIoT, and telecom chips.
The HKIC, which manages HK$62 billion ($7.9 billion) of assets, said in a Tuesday announcement that this strategic financing comes at the start of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, in which semiconductor development—including the advancement of homegrown EDA tools—carries heightened significance in the nation’s strategic blueprint for the years from 2026-2030.
As chips become the backbone of today’s digital economy, powering everything from smartphones and smart vehicles to AI and cloud services, pre-silicon verification and EDA tools have emerged as critical infrastructure for China’s semiconductor industry, according to the HKIC.
Beijing’s policy tailwinds and heavy state funding are driving the growth of domestic companies like CorePilot in a sector that was once dominated by foreign giants like Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems, and Siemens EDA, previously known as Mentor Graphics before it was acquired in 2017 by Germany’s Siemens AG.
This capital injection will accelerate CorePilot’s core tech R&D, expand its product applications, and speed up the commercialisation of its next-generation EDA solutions.
Insilico proposes $150.2m joint life sciences fund
Hong Kong-listed AI drug developer Insilico Medicine is considering participating in a Chinese yuan fund in partnership with Value Partners Group, China’s state-owned Shanghai Pudong Development Group, and other prospective external investors to pool 1.01 billion yuan ($150.2 million) for investments in life sciences.
Tentatively named “Insilico Medicine Exponential Technology Fund,” the proposed fund “would enable the group to participate in growth opportunities arising from the continued development and innovation of the biopharmaceutical and life sciences sectors,” said Insilico in a recent voluntary disclosure with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
In a separate WeChat post, Insilico said that the fund, if successfully raised, would target core, transformative life sciences sectors, including Insilico-incubated NewCo startups, foundation models, novel drug modalities, embodied AI laboratories, precision medicines, and other key subsectors across the life sciences value chain.
Insilico said in the post that the vehicle is likely the world’s first blind-pool corporate venture capital (CVC) fund initiated by an industry leader in the emerging “AI for sciences (AI4S)” field.
To facilitate the fund’s rollout, Insilico is looking to set up a joint venture (JV) with a subsidiary of Shanghai Pudong Development Group, before contributing a total of 302.5 million yuan ($45 million) into the RMB fund. A Shenzhen equity investment management entity wholly owned by Hong Kong-headquartered Value Partners Group will serve as the fund manager.
This potential collaboration could further deepen Insilico’s relationship with both Value Partners Group and Shanghai Pudong Development Group, which jointly led its $123 million Series E round in March 2025. In December of the same year, Insilico completed its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), raising HK$2.28 billion yuan ($290.9 million) as the city’s biggest biotech IPO of the year.
