Mingyao Wang has been general manager and managing partner of Legend Star – the corporate venturing unit of Chinese investment company Legend Holdings – since 2014. Legend Star manages 10 early-stage funds with a total value of over RMB 4bn ($630m), and with a focus on cutting-edge technology, TMT (technology, media and telecoms) as well as the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
Since it was set up in 2008, Legend Star has supported entrepreneurs as a “super angel” – what the company describes as a mixture of early investment plus in-depth incubation – and has now made over 400 investments.
Recent deals involving Legend Star include participation in the $125m series A round for semiconductor technology developer Axera, as well as a role in the $31m series A round for Blue Elephant Zhilian, a cybersecurity developer for the financial sector.
Among the major exits from Legend Star’s funds have been AirMap, a services platform for unmanned aircraft which was acquired by DroneUp in late 2021, Oculii, which develops radar technology for autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence technology provider iFlytek.
Wang has more than 20 years of experience in the venture capital field and prior to joining Legend Star in 2010 was senior vice president of Zero2IPO Group and the founder of Jiufan Investment Company. He was recognised as one of Fortune’s “Top 30 Most Influential Investors in China” in both 2014 and 2018.
He also serves as chairman of Legend Star Union, an entrepreneurial community and collaborative growth platform set up by Legend Star in 2011.
Wang holds an international MBA degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
