HANGZHOU, China, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — You’ve probably heard the story of Hangzhou’s "Six Little Dragons." But what about the city’s "New Eight Steeds"?
In May 2026, the "Fortunate Meeting Hangzhou • Dialogue with the Future" Investment Promotion Conference and High-Quality Development Conference on Innovation & Entrepreneurship Investment was held in Hangzhou. During a roundtable dialogue, eight cutting-edge tech startups gathered to discuss the monumental technological shifts expected over the next ten years. Dubbed the "New Eight Steeds" by local media, these companies are becoming a key window into the city’s hard-tech evolution.
If the earlier "Six Little Dragons" seized the first wave of AI development and established Hangzhou’s confidence in tech innovation, the "New Eight Steeds" aim higher. They focus on frontier tracks such as smart glasses, chip manufacturing, space-based computing, embodied AI, and biomanufacturing – positioning themselves to lead the future.
Each of these eight enterprises excels in its niche, breaking through multiple critical technical bottlenecks. Among them:
Hangzhou Lingban Technology blends AI with AR to pioneer the next platform revolution after personal and mobile computing.
Star.Vision bridges aerospace and AI, enabling satellites to "learn" and think for themselves.
Hangzhou Jinglianwen Technology strengthens the data foundation of AI, training "AI that gets work done."
Xynova tackles dexterous robotic hands, solving the "last centimeter" challenge in manipulation.
Sunrise is ushering in an era of "one million tokens for a cent" for AI reasoning.
Nanocorechip builds a domestic, self-controllable computing power foundation.
BIBO focuses on intelligent chassis systems for automobiles.
Bota Biosciences redefines biomanufacturing with physical AI.
Unlike the "Six Little Dragons," which leaned toward internet applications, the "New Eight Steeds" dive deep into industrial foundations: chips, algorithms, data, biological code, and space infrastructure. Their tracks are more vertical, fundamental, and hard-tech – a clear sign that Hangzhou’s tech development is leaping from "soft applications" to a "hard-core base."
Behind this shift lies patient long-term capital, deep industry ecosystem integration, and a government committed to "companionship without intervention." Capital’s enthusiasm is particularly telling: local state-owned funds are heavily supporting the scene, industrial capital from Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen is placing big bets, and top-tier external investors like Xiaomi, Lenovo, and ByteDance are rushing to get in.
Looking ahead to the next decade, these "New Eight Steeds" – as representatives of a new tech generation – will help Hangzhou move from a surface-level, trend-chasing success story to a deeply rooted, internally driven innovation powerhouse. They will seize the high ground in future industrial competition through technological breakthroughs, propelling the entire industrial system to new heights.
