- Series E RoundUSD 740M — Amount: Not separately disclosed (cumulative > RMB 5B in H1 2026); not disclosed; Post-money valuation: > RMB 20B; Led by: Not explicitly disclosed. This round pushed ModelBest's cumulative H1 2026 financing to over RMB 5B and post-money valuation to over RMB 20B, making it the largest publicly valued unicorn in edge AI. Investor structure shifted further toward 'national-level funds + central SOEs + automakers'. Four days later (2026-07-19), the company announced at WAIC that global downloads of the MiniCPM series exceeded 38 million and launched the MiniCPM-Robot embodied intelligence series. ⚠️ The company database contains only this record for the round. Source: PEdaily · Securities Times
- Series D++ RoundUndisclosed — Amount: Undisclosed; Led by: Shenzhen Capital Group, Inovance Industrial Investment (jointly led) | Shenzhen Capital Group leading marks the formal entry of Shenzhen state-owned capital, while Inovance Industrial Investment (part of the Inovance Technology system, an industrial automation leader) brings manufacturing and robotics scenarios. At this point, state-owned capital from both Beijing (Jing Guorui, Beijing AI Fund) and Shenzhen (Shenzhen Capital Group) have entered the shareholder list. ⚠️ This round is missing from the Wu Jie Frontier Company Database. | Source: Securities Times · TMTPost
- Series D RoundUndisclosed — Amount: Undisclosed; Led by: China Telecom (Lead) | First financing round after Spring Festival 2026, led by central SOE China Telecom, followed by CITIC Group's dual platforms. The significance of operator capital lies in the synergistic potential on network and terminal sides. This marks the starting point of accelerated financing in 2026. ⚠️ This round is missing from the Frontier Company Database. | Source: Securities Times · TMTPost
- Series C RoundUndisclosed — Amount: Several hundred million RMB; Approx. USD 44M – 147M (converted at 1 USD = 6.8 CNY); Led by: Not explicitly disclosed. Jingguorui (Beijing state-owned capital) entered, echoing Shenzhen state-owned capital; CICC-affiliated capital entering laid groundwork for subsequent IPO guidance (final lead underwriter was CITIC Securities, outside CICC group). Concurrently, the 'Density Law' paper was published as a cover article in Nature Machine Intelligence in November 2025. ⚠️ This round was missing from the Frontier Company Database. Source: Securities Times · TMTPost
- Series B RoundUndisclosed — Amount: Not disclosed; Led by: Not clearly disclosed. Entry by Maotai Fund represents a probe by consumer/traditional industry capital into edge-side AI. Related results on 'Density Law' formed papers in the same year. ⚠️ This round is missing from the Frontier Company Database. | Source: Securities Times · TMTPost
- Series A++ RoundUndisclosed — Amount: Undisclosed; Led by: Not explicitly disclosed | Loongson Capital entered—the combination of domestic CPU ecosystem and edge-side models forms a 'dual-track domestic computing power' layout alongside Huawei Hubble. In February of the same year, the company released its first edge-side foundation model MiniCPM-2B (2B parameters, runnable on CPU), officially establishing the edge-side route. ⚠️ This round is missing from the WuJie Frontier Company Database. | Source: Securities Times
- New roundUndisclosed — Amount: Several hundred million RMB; approx. $44M – $147M (converted at 1 USD = 6.8 CNY); Led by: Spring Capital, Huawei Hubble (co-led) | The amount escalated from 'tens of millions' in the angel round to 'hundreds of millions'. Huawei Hubble's entry is a landmark event—signifying industry recognition from chip/terminal giants for Mianbi's edge-side model route. Beijing Municipal Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund followed, marking the entry of local state-owned capital. ⚠️ This round is missing from the Wu Jie Frontier Company Database. | Source: Securities Times · TMTPost
- Angel RoundUndisclosed — Amount basis: Tens of millions of RMB; Approx. USD 4.4M–14.7M (converted at 1 USD = 6.8 CNY, range undisclosed); Led by: Zhihu (exclusive lead) | Pushed by Li Dahai, then CTO of Zhihu, Zhihu led exclusively, followed by peer company Zhipu AI—this is a rare case of mutual investment between companies in the early large model sector. Two months later (June 2023), Li Dahai became Director and CEO of ModelBest, resigning from Zhihu in June 2024 to join full-time. ⚠️ This round is missing from the Frontier Company Database. | Source: Securities Times · TMTPost
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