5Y Capital

5Y Capital was founded by Ken Shi, also known as Shi Jianming, and Richard Liu, also known as Liu Qin. Both worked as investment professionals at Morningside Group before launching the venture arm in 2008, and both remain the partnership's defining figures.

The Morningside relationship is the structural advantage. A family office anchor has backed the firm since inception, which gives the partners longer holding periods and less pressure to exit on a conventional ten-year fund clock. That is consistent with their pattern of writing early checks into capital-intensive companies such as Pony.ai and XPeng and staying through successive rounds. The firm's best-known position is Xiaomi. The October 2020 rebrand from Morningside Venture Capital to 5Y Capital separated the venture franchise's identity from the family office while preserving the funding relationship.

5Y Capital dates to 2008, when it was founded as Morningside Venture Capital, the venture arm associated with the Morningside Group family office, which has backed it since inception. The firm rebranded to 5Y Capital in October 2020. By March 31, 2021 it managed roughly $5 billion, and it closed multiple funds during 2021 after reaching capacity limits on investor demand. In November 2023 it was reported to be progressing toward a $700 million target for a new vehicle.

The firm invests early and holds, and its record is built on Chinese technology platforms: Xiaomi, the short-video platform Kuaishou, the artificial intelligence company SenseTime, the autonomous driving company Pony.ai, and the electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng. Its offices are on Wuyuan Road in Shanghai rather than in Beijing, and it invests across stages from early rounds through growth.