Zhiyuan Research
Everything you need to know about Zhiyuan Research — from their funding history to who's backing them.
Awaira Score
Out of 100
HQ
China
Founded
2018
Stage
Corporate
Team
100-500
About Zhiyuan Research
Zhiyuan Research Institute is a Beijing-based AI research organisation jointly established by the Beijing Municipal Government, major Chinese universities including Tsinghua and Peking University, and prominent technology companies including Baidu, ByteDance, and Xiaomi, with a mission to advance fundamental AI research and build artificial general intelligence capabilities grounded in cognitive…
Key Facts
- Zhiyuan Research was founded in 2018 by Zhu Songchun and is headquartered in China.
- Zhiyuan Research employs approximately 100-500 people.
- Zhiyuan Research operates in the Foundation Models category and is currently at the Corporate stage.
- Zhiyuan Research has an Awaira Score of 52/100, ranking it among the tracked AI companies on Awaira.
- Zhiyuan Research's most recent funding round was a Series B of $61.05M closed in May 2020.
Source: Awaira · Updated Mar 24, 2026
Valuation
N/A
Post-money
Total Raised
N/A
All rounds
Awaira Score
52/100
Founded
2018
100-500 employees
Strengths & Risks
Strengths
Large team of 100-500+ employees
Late-stage with proven business model
Considerations
Valuation not publicly disclosed
Limited disclosed funding
Analysis based on publicly available data. Not investment advice.
Funding Velocity
3
Total Rounds
$31.31M
Avg Round Size
2.3yr
Funding Span
Zhiyuan Research raised 3 rounds over 2.3 years, averaging $31.31M per round — a pace of roughly one round every 9 months.
Awaira estimate based on public data. Not financial advice.
How does Zhiyuan Research stack up against competitors?
Competitor Comparison
| Metric | ★Zhiyuan Research | OpenAI | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awaira Score | 52/100 | 98/100 | 95/100 | 92/100 |
| Total Raised | N/A | $127B | $67B | $1.1B |
| Valuation | N/A | $852B | $380B | N/A |
| Stage | Corporate | Private | Series G | Corporate |
| Founded | 2018 | 2015 | 2021 | 2023 |
| Employees | 100-500 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 150 |
| Country | 🇨🇳 | 🇺🇸 | 🇺🇸 | 🇨🇳 |
Funding Rounds
Inactive$61.05M
May 2020
$25.36M
Jan 2019
$7.51M
Jan 2018
Zhiyuan Research Latest News
Zhiyuan Research Releases New Open-Weight Language Model Challenging GPT-4
Zhiyuan Research Expands AI Market Share in China's Competitive Landscape
Zhiyuan Research Announces Strategic Partnerships to Scale AI Operations
Zhiyuan Research Launches Open-Source AI Models for Chinese Research Community
Zhiyuan Research Secures New Funding to Accelerate Corporate Expansion
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