Hangzhou's 'Six Little Dragons' All Become Unicorns, DeepSeek Raises Over RMB 50 Billion in Single Round

In early 2025, six startups in AI, robotics and other fields in Hangzhou collectively gained attention, becoming a symbol of science and technology innovation enterprises. One year later, all six 'Little Dragons' have become unicorns valued at over $1 billion. Qunhe Technology listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in April 2026, Unitree Technology passed its IPO review on the STAR Market, and DeepSeek set a record for the largest single round of financing in China's AI industry, raising over RMB 50 billion. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Hangzhou's economic output surpassed RMB 2 trillion, achieving breakthroughs in national laboratories, national large-scale scientific facilities, and international big science programs, and its ranking in global innovation clusters rose to 13th. In 2025, the added value of core digital economy industries accounted for 29.5% of Hangzhou's GDP.

Hangzhou's innovation ecosystem consists of major science and technology platforms, pilot bases, industrialization incubators for scientific achievements, and tech enterprises. Zhejiang Lab focuses on intelligent computing, advancing the Nanhu computing framework, the Haina data hub, the 021 science foundation model, and the Three-Body computing constellation, strengthening the intelligent computing technology base. The Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics has deepened its work in optoelectronic new materials, incubating over 70 enterprises, attracting more than 40 national-level leading scientific talents, with a total valuation of incubators exceeding RMB 50 billion. Shining 3D Technology, a national champion in the manufacturing of three-dimensional vision products, has invested about 20% of its annual revenue in R&D for over a decade, with products sold in more than 100 countries and regions.

The evolution from 'Little Dragons' to 'many dragons' is the result of the innovation ecosystem. In addition to the 'Six Little Dragons,' Hangzhou also has 'Eight New Steeds' of tech enterprises and the 'Five Little Phoenixes' of AI communities. At the beginning of 2026, Zhejiang released a list of 96 'New Tech Little Dragon' enterprises, with entry criteria including registration age of 3 to 10 years, R&D investment of at least 10% of revenue over the past three years or annual R&D spending exceeding RMB 10 million. More than half of these enterprises are based in Hangzhou.

GeoGPT, a geoscience foundation model developed by Zhejiang Lab, is open to the world and has served over 50,000 geoscience researchers from 145 countries and regions. In July 2025, GeoGPT was showcased at the 'AI for Good Global Summit' in Geneva.

In the Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City exhibition hall, a dedicated space has been set aside for the 'Six Little Dragons.' Since March 2026, visiting delegations from various industries have been streaming in, including three provincial-level party and government delegations.

In early 2026, Hangzhou proposed to build itself into the 'First City of AI Innovation and Development' around three core areas: open-source ecosystem development, embodied intelligent innovation, and institutional innovation demonstration. In March, the 'Regulations of Hangzhou City on Promoting the Development of the Embodied Intelligent Robot Industry' were enacted, becoming the first local regulation focusing on the embodied intelligent robot field. In May, the National AI Application Pilot Base (Embodied Intelligence) was launched in the Zhizao Valley of Hangzhou's Binjiang District, undertaking the 'pilot' function from laboratory prototype to mass production. It has deployed over 140 robots in dozens of scenarios such as industrial manufacturing, special operations, and public services for testing and data collection.

In June 2026, a robot dance troupe formed by the National AI Application Pilot Base (Embodied Intelligence) and Unitree Technology performed at the 'Xizi Langqiao' in Hangzhou's Hubin business district.

In the first half of 2026, new growth drivers contributed over 40% to China's economic growth, demonstrating a clear trend toward innovation and quality improvement, with the overall development pace accelerating.