China-based artificial intelligence startup Apex Intelligence has raised nearly $50 million across angel and angel-plus financing rounds as it develops foundation models designed to improve through iterative research and experimentation.
The angel round was co-led by IDG Capital, LinkX Capital and XtalPi, with participation from Decent Capital, SEE Fund, Monad Ventures and Winsoul Capital. The angel-plus round was co-led by Zhongguancun Science City Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group and Shanghai Future Industries Fund, according to a company statement.
Apex Intelligence was founded in June 2026 and is based in Beijing. The company describes its focus as self-evolving foundation models for scientific research and discovery.
AI for scientific research
Apex says its approach centers on recursive self-improvement, with models intended to generate hypotheses, run experiments, evaluate results and use those outcomes to refine subsequent work.
The company is targeting research-heavy applications where workflows can be structured and results measured, including chip design and simulation, molecular research and quantitative strategy development.
Apex was founded by Yongchao Chen, an assistant professor at Tsinghua University’s Institute for AI who has academic experience spanning the University of Science and Technology of China and a Harvard-MIT joint doctoral program, according to the company.
The startup says its team includes researchers and engineers with backgrounds at Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Kimi, Zhipu AI and Ant Group, as well as academic experience at Tsinghua, Harvard, MIT and the University of Michigan.
The financing comes as Chinese AI startups continue to attract large early-stage rounds for specialized foundation models and vertical applications. TNGlobal reported earlier this week that China’s AlphaPai raised $50 million for an AI investment-research assistant aimed at professional financial users.
Apex said it plans to use its funding to expand research and recruit talent. The company is also visiting several North American universities in September as part of a recruitment and research-collaboration push.
ByteDance AI drug discovery spin-off Anew Labs raises $290M at $1.5B valuation