About Highlight Capital
Highlight Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2014. It is primarily based out of Shanghai, China. As of Jan 2023, Highlight Capital has invested in 41 companies. It primarily invests in Series A round in China based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Life Sciences to HealthTech and High Tech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series C round of LePure Biotech Overall, Highlight Capital portfolio has seen 7 IPOs and 6 acquisitions including key companies like WuXi AppTec, Pharmaron and Cullgen. A lot of funds co-invest with Highlight Capital, with names like CDH sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Highlight Capital has team of 6 people including 3 partners.Key Metrics
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 4 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Soonicorns
Highlight Capital's List of Top Investments
Highlight Capital has a portfolio of 41 companies. Their most notable investments are in Quyiyuan and 4iNLOOK.Their portfolio spans across China, United States, Finland and 1 more locations. They have invested in Life Sciences, HealthTech, High Tech and 4 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 4 more. Here is the list of top investments by Highlight Capital:1. WuXi AppTec
WuXi AppTec is a provider of a suite of CRO and CDMO services for small molecules, biologics, and medical devices. It offers a suite of services for the research, development, and manufacturing of both small molecules and biologics and also caters to medical device development and has operations all over the globe. They provide a broad and integrated portfolio of laboratory and manufacturing services throughout the drug and medical device R&D process. The company built its initial capabilities around discovery chemistry and has further enhanced the integrated services with analytical services, bio-analytical services, process research, process development services, API manufacturing services, DMPK/ADME, discovery biology, pharmacology, formulation, toxicology, genomic services, biologics manufacturing services, antibody, and biological research reagent manufacturing and sales, and most recently clinical research and regulatory services. In 2022, the company recorded annual revenues of $5.84B and a net profit of $1.31B.
Key facts about WuXi AppTec
- Founded Year: 2000
- Location: Shanghai (China)
- Annual Revenue: £10M - £50M as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $40M
- Employee Count: 4,155 as on Nov 16, 2025
- Investors: Strait Huifu Industrial Investment Fund Management, HPR Capital and 27 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Apr 02, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Public
2. Pharmaron
Pharmaron offers a suite of drug discovery and development services for small molecules, nucleosides, nucleotides, peptides, lipids and carbohydrates. They offer their R&D services across a number of disciplines including chemistry, biology, DMPK, pharmacology, toxicology and chemical and formulation development. The company claims that their chemistry division is one of the largest chemistry service providers in the world with experience and expertise in organic synthesis, library/high-throughput synthesis, chiral chemistry, medicinal, computational and cheminformatics, bioorganic chemistry, process and scale-up, analytical and purification. Their biologics division offers services such as antibody/protein engineering, antibody humanization, cell line development, recombinant antibody production, protein expression, purification, and characterization.The company has acquired Xceleron and SNBL CPC to augment its offerings.
Key facts about Pharmaron
- Founded Year: 2003
- Location: Beijing (China)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $320M
- Employee Count: 10,000 - 1,000,000 as on Mar 01, 2026
- Investors: Aisling Capital, DCM Ventures and 11 Others
- Latest Funding Round: PE, Dec 14, 2015, $*****
- Highlight: Public
3. Cullgen
Biopharmaceutical company pioneering targeted protein degradation for innovative medicines, dedicated to developing first-in-class treatments for diseases lacking effective therapeutic approaches. They utilize a proprietary technology platform featuring novel E3 ligands to build the next generation of targeted protein degraders. The mission is to create new drugs for diseases that currently lack effective therapies, expanding the drug design paradigm to drug the "undruggable." They are focused on protein degradation, degrader-antibody conjugates, and novel E3 ligands, leveraging their expertise in UPS and E3s. The company is developing a pipeline of innovative medicines for cancer and other debilitating diseases, pushing the limits of what is possible in medicine.
Key facts about Cullgen
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: San Diego (United States)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $121M
- Investors: Octagon Capital Advisors, Heights Capital Management and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, May 08, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Developer of epigenetic-based therapies for rare genetic cancers. The company has developed a small molecule IMG-7289, that inhibits an enzyme called lysine-specific demethylase 1. The company is developing therapeutics for diseases in which modifying gene expression patterns can have a therapeutic effect such as myelofibrosis, essential thrombocytopenia, polycythemia vera, AML, solid tumor, and hemoglobinopathies.
Key facts about Imago BioSciences
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $129M
- Employee Count: 10 - 49 as on Mar 01, 2026
- Investors: Amgen Business Development, T. Rowe Price and 16 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Nov 19, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
5. Mindray
Provider of medical equipment & accessories for both human and veterinary. It provides solutions for patient monitoring, anesthesia, and ultrasound. It also provides care for variety of animals. In 2022, the company recorded annual revenues of $4.58B and a net profit of $1.47B.
Key facts about Mindray
- Founded Year: 1991
- Location: Shenzhen (China)
- Annual Revenue: ₹1,000+ Cr as on Mar 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Employee Count: 77 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Goldman Sachs, RiverHead Capital and 18 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, 2003, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Highlight Capital's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Highlight Capital has invested in 41 companies over the last 12 years, with an average of 2 new investments annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in LePure Biotech and most recent follow-on round was in Biotheus.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2020 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2019 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
2018 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
2017 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Highlight Capital's Investments by Stage
Highlight Capital has made 13 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $10.6M, 8 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $32.5M and 4 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $6.94M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 13 |
Series B | 8 |
Seed | 4 |
Series C | 3 |
Post IPO | 1 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Highlight Capital's Investments by Sector
Highlight Capital has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Life Sciences, HealthTech, Healthcare, High Tech and Enterprise Applications. Notably, it has invested in 24 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 18 Tech companies, 6 Consumer (B2C) companies and at least 4 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Life Sciences | 13 |
HealthTech | 9 |
Healthcare | 7 |
High Tech | 6 |
Enterprise Applications | 4 |
Others | 6 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Highlight Capital's Investments by Geography
Highlight Capital has made most investments in China (21), followed by United States where it has made 7 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
China | 21 |
United States | 7 |
Finland | 1 |
Portugal | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Highlight Capital's recent investments
Highlight Capital has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Highlight Capital:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 17, 2023 | United States | Series C | 3529 | [+4] | |
Mar 02, 2021 | China | Seed | 7069 | [+7] | |
Nov 19, 2020 | United States | Series C | 6048 | ||
Mar 08, 2020 | China | Series B | 2983 | [+7] | |
Dec 16, 2019 | China | Series A | 5345 | - |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Highlight Capital's Portfolio
7 of Highlight Capital's portfolio companies have become public. GenFleet Therapeutics got listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG), in Sep 2025 at marketcap of $936M and GenetronHealth got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ).Here are Highlight Capital's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep 19, 2025 | Mar 08, 2020 | Series B | 5586 | |
Jun 26, 2020 | Nov 21, 2019 | Series D | 9066 | |
May 22, 2020 | Jan 12, 2018 | Series C | 5118 | |
Feb 01, 2019 | - | - | 4250 | |
Dec 14, 2018 | - | - | 8655 |
Acquired companies in Highlight Capital's Portfolio
6 companies from Highlight Capital's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Cullgen in Mar 2026 by Gyre Therapeutics for $*****.Here are Highlight Capital's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 02, 2026 | Apr 10, 2019 | Series A | 1692 | |
Nov 13, 2024 | 2018 | Seed | 5606 | |
Nov 21, 2022 | Mar 20, 2019 | Series B | 6643 | |
May 01, 2019 | Jul 24, 2014 | Series A | 7889 | |
Sep 14, 2018 | Apr 18, 2017 | Series B | 5533 |
Team profile of Highlight Capital
Highlight Capital has a team of 6 members including 3 Partners located in China. Highlight Capital's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Highlight Capital:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Beijing | - | - | |
Partner | Shanghai | - | - | |
Partner | Xuhui | - |
Co-investors of Highlight Capital
Over the past 12 years, 128 investors have co-invested in Highlight Capital's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Highlight Capital: GNI Group, Frazier Healthcare Partners and 24 others have invested in rounds before Highlight Capital. There is 1 company where GNI Group has invested before Highlight Capital and 1 company where Frazier Healthcare Partners has invested before Highlight Capital.
- Top Co-investors of Highlight Capital: 46 investors entered a company along with Highlight Capital. These include investors like CDH (2 companies).
- Invested after Highlight Capital: A total of 56 investors have invested in Highlight Capital's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Deyi Capital (2 companies), Qiaojing Capital (2 companies) and South China Venture Capital (1 company).
Recent News related to Highlight Capital
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Aureka Biotechnologies Raises US$100 Million Series B to Build a Biological World Model for Drug DiscoveryPR Newswire•Aug 11, 2026•Aureka Biotechnologies, Granite Asia, NRL Capital, Matrix Partners China and 3 others
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GL joins $61m Series C for China's Thousand OaksAsian Venture Capital Journal•Mar 10, 2021•GL Ventures, Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals, CDH, Highlight Capital and 5 others
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Yingke Capital deploys heart valve field, invests in Hanyu MedicalPEdaily•Aug 14, 2020•Yingke Capital, Shanghai Hanyu Medical Technology, Highlight Capital, ALAN AMC and 4 others
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Chinese biotech startup GenFleet closes $58m in Series B roundDeal Street Asia•Mar 08, 2020•GenFleet Therapeutics, CDH, Shenzhen Capital Group, South China Venture Capital and 4 others
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HighLight hits $300m first close on China healthcare fundAsian Venture Capital Journal•Feb 18, 2020•Highlight Capital
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Chinese drug developer Kintor raises $45m led by state-backed FTZ FundDeal Street Asia•Oct 28, 2019•Kintor, Huajin Capital, Free Trade Zone Fund, China Construction Bank and 1 other
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Verseau pages investors for $50mGlobal Corporate Venturing•Oct 22, 2019•Alexandria, 3SBio, Verseau Therapeutics, 20/20 HealthCare Partners and 3 others
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Cullgen Receives $16 Million Series A Investment to Advance Pipeline of Targeted Protein DegradersBusiness Wire•Apr 10, 2019•Cullgen, Highlight Capital, Sequoia Capital
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