Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group: Building a scientific and technological innovation ecosystem with patient capital

China News Service, Hangzhou, September 27 (Guo Qiyu) A bionic dexterous hand can sense the force required to crush an egg; a low-orbit satellite constellation weaves an Internet of Things that covers almost the entire world; a reusable rocket writes a new footnote for China's commercial aerospace...

Walking into the Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group’s booth at the Fifth Global Digital Trade Expo, a number of hard technology companies from brain-computer interfaces to quantum computing, from commercial aerospace to embodied intelligence appeared together. These seemingly scattered cutting-edge track projects are all inseparable from the support of patient capital.

In the tide of innovation in Zhejiang, Patient Capital focuses on precise layout at the forefront of scientific innovation and cultivates an innovative "tropical rainforest". As an investment platform for the Zhejiang provincial government, through the triple identity of Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group, we can see its transition from "innovation partner" to "ecological co-builder".

The booth of Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group at the 5th Global Digital Trade Fair. Photo by Guo Qiyu

The first identity is strategic capital organizer.

Innovation is the first driving force for development, and venture capital is the engine of innovation. As a major economic and innovative province, Zhejiang took the lead in establishing a provincial government investment fund system and established a "main position" for patient capital.

In October 2025, the Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Fund, co-operated by the central and local governments, was launched in Zhejiang, with an initial scale of 50 billion yuan, and a long duration of 18 years to provide cross-cycle capital support for hard technology.

Cao Guoxiong, chairman of Puhua Capital, who is deeply involved in the field of venture capital, believes that the entry of Zhejiang Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Fund, with its ultra-long investment cycle and stable investment philosophy, has brought strong confidence to the entire innovation chain, from scientists, entrepreneurs to early investment institutions.

Guided by the provincial fund system, Zhejiang has extensively leveraged various types of social capital to build a fund group covering the entire province, key industries, and the entire innovation life cycle.

For example, in terms of empowering the entire life cycle of innovation, the fund matrix is ​​a continuous relay. From venture capital funds in the angel stage to industrial investment funds in the growth stage, to M&A funds in the mature stage, Patient Capital injects a steady stream of capital into new and future industries.

As of now, the scale of Zhejiang's provincial fund group exceeds 350 billion yuan. It has gathered more than 200 venture capital institutions and has guided more than 500 billion yuan of various types of capital to invest in Zhejiang, building a large and sophisticated innovation capital network.

The second identity is that of an industrial ecological architect.

On the map of innovative Zhejiang, why patient capital has become a key player? The answer lies in the growth logic of the science and technology innovation industry.

The growth of scientific and technological enterprises often needs to span several cycles. Traditional market-based capital is limited by the duration of the fund, and it is often difficult to accompany start-up enterprises to complete this marathon. The relevant person in charge of Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group said, “In areas where social capital is unwilling to invest, cannot afford to invest, and cannot afford to wait, patient capital must take the initiative to fill the gap.”

Following the systematic placement of key nodes in key industrial clusters, Zhejiang provincial funds have invested in a total of 34 major projects with a total investment of more than 1 billion yuan, continuing to forge industrial development engines and leading the upgrading of local characteristic clusters.

During this digital trade fair, patient capital once again made big investments. Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group held a special signing ceremony. The amount of cooperation intention is nearly 2 billion yuan, and the total scale of the signed projects exceeds 10 billion yuan, covering three core sectors: scenario innovation strategic cooperation, Zhejiang Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Fund sub-fund implementation, and hard technology project intention cooperation.

For example, the hard technology cooperation projects signed this time cover cutting-edge tracks such as artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence, and commercial aerospace. These projects are all cutting-edge hard technology enterprises that have been tracked and cultivated by Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group for a long time. Relying on the Digital Trade Fair platform will further promote enterprises to connect with global digital trade resources and accelerate the industrialization of technological achievements.

With capital as a link, Zhejiang provincial fund investment binds high-quality science and technology innovation entities to continue to promote leading foreign science and technology innovation enterprises, core technologies, and innovation scenarios to land in Zhejiang.

The third identity is the linker of innovative elements.

The significance of patient capital is not only the injection of funds, but also the opening of scenarios, the collaboration of tools, the linking of partners, and the accelerated gathering and efficient allocation of innovative elements.

Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group has created the "Innovation and Financing Bridge" investment and financing integrated ecological brand to build a docking platform for project parties, funders and landing sites, and promote the two-way flow of industrial projects and financial resources.

In July this year, at the "Chuangrong Bridge·Zheshang Bank Special Event", a science and technology financial product called "Zhechuang Bank Investment Loan" was officially released. At the scene, a cutting-edge high-precision positioning chip company received a credit of 20 million yuan, and it only took 7 working days from visit to approval.

The pain points of a company reflect the common needs of a type of company. Zhejiang Innovation Investment Group relies on its multi-license financial advantages and fund of funds management advantages to build the Z·Create innovative ecological brand and build a complete empowerment matrix.

At the source of the innovation chain, Zhejiang has also implemented science and technology innovation funds and science and technology innovation platform partnership plans, linking universities and scientific research platforms such as Zhejiang University and Zhijiang Laboratory to build an "investor + scientist + entrepreneur" dialogue mechanism and build a closed-loop transformation chain of science and technology innovation.

With patient capital as the fulcrum, Zhejiang is leveraging the formation of a first-class scientific and technological innovation ecosystem where "scientists dare to devote themselves to research, entrepreneurs dare to boldly try and make mistakes, and venture capital institutions dare to make long-term plans", allowing the seeds of innovation to take root, sprout and grow in the land of Zhejiang. (over)