ORI Capital China Biotech Fund Targets $350M for AI-Driven Growth

Hong Kong-based venture capital firm ORI Capital will launch a new US$350 million China biotech-focused fund to bet on China's fast-expanding biotech industry. ORI Capital China biotech fund will invest in pioneering healthcare start-ups, namely those that are using artificial intelligence (AI) in drug development and discovery.

Founded by Goldman Sachs veteran Simone Song in 2015, ORI Capital has become a biotech investor in leading biotech companies globally. Through this third and largest fund, the firm is now focused on "investing heavily" in Chinese biotech — an endeavor Song describes as being in harmony with the country's "DeepSeek moment," an allusion to the historic AI breakthroughs this year in China.

“We believe China's biotech industry is at a turning point," Song said. "It's no longer a question of catching up — Chinese companies are starting to innovate, and we'd like to be a part of it."

Betting on the AI Advantage in Medicine

The ORI Capital China biotech fund will utilize the company's proprietary AI-driven platform, Orizon, to identify potential start-ups in China. Orizon is designed to sift through massive amounts of data — clinical trial data, scientific literature, IP landscapes, and regulatory documents — and identify early-stage biotech firms with scalable, differentiated technology.

"AI allows us to make more intelligent, faster investment choices," Song said. "It removes bias and allows us to observe individual opportunities in a crowded universe."

China's biotech market has become more competitive since numerous firms are targeting the same disease or biologic marker. ORI believes its AI-driven screening process gives it a better advantage in finding firms with true breakthrough potential.

Why Now? The timing of the ORI Capital China biotech fund is not coincidental. Six of the world's leading ten pharmaceutical licensing transactions in the first quarter of 2025 alone involved Chinese-produced drugs, including GeneQuantum and Hengrui, according to biopharma data provider PharmCube.

Song referred to the quick success of firms such as Legend Biotech, which in 2017 inked a US$350 million licensing agreement with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals for its CAR-T treatment. "We would like to have more success stories like Legend," she said.

Additionally, China's vast talent pool, strong research environment, and high-capacity manufacturing base are fertile ground for biotech innovation. The country's growing population of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs — with an enabling regulatory environment — is setting China up for next-generation leaders in global health.

Looking Beyond Borders

While ORI Capital China biotech fund will focus heavily on domestic opportunities, Song said it will also explore cross-border co-ventures and foreign commercialization platforms. The goal is to invest in those companies that can compete — and win — on the global stage.

Past success stories, including New York-listed California-based CG Oncology, sponsored by ORI, show the potential of the firm to support companies to grow and access significant markets. The new fund seeks to replicate and scale that impact in China. With $350 million of committed capital and a playbook that marries AI with deep biotech expertise, ORI Capital is emerging as an advocate of the next generation of Chinese healthcare innovation.