Chinese AI emotional companion startup NatureSelect.ai has attracted more than $100 million in new financing, while ex-Qiming managing partner Nisa Leung’s Aulis Capital has reached the final closing of its inaugural fund.
AI emotional companion startup NatureSelect.ai raises over $100m
Shenzhen-based startup NatureSelect.ai, which develops artificial intelligence (AI) emotional companion products, has raised more than $100 million in new financing ahead of a new product launch this month.
5Y Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, SCV, iMPC and HyT Capital backed NatureSelect.ai in the new financing.
Founded in early 2024, NatureSelect.ai develops AI-driven experiences promoting long-term human-AI relationships. Its key products include EVE, a 3D AI companion equipped with long-term memory. Beyond text, voice, and video interactions, EVE can proactively execute real-world tasks, such as ordering boba tea or flower deliveries, bridging virtual companionship with everyday life for users.
The startup is also developing Elys, an agentic social network where user interactions naturally generate contextual memory. Leveraging this data, personalised AI avatars can help users surface high-value insights, build meaningful connections, and explore new experiences across the platform.
Since its launch of Elys in private beta this February, the startup has made progress in optimising the multi-user social memory system, while enhancing privacy protection and improving connection efficiency. Currently, the latest version of Elys remains in invite-only beta testing, with the official version expected to launch this month.
The startup counts BAI Capital, Ubiquant Partners, Eastern Bell Capital, and HSG among its early backers.
Ex-Qiming partner Nisa Leung’s Aulis Capital raises inaugural $200m fund
Aulis Capital, a young investment firm led by ex-Qiming managing partner Nisa Leung, has reached the final closing of its inaugural fund, Aulis Capital Fund I, L.P., with total capital commitments of $200 million.
Founded in October 2025, Aulis Capital targets early- and growth-stage companies across the life sciences and healthcare sectors. It seeks to support transformative technologies and solutions that improve patient outcomes and advance medical innovation.
“Having spent years working alongside exceptional scientific minds and entrepreneurs, I have long believed that the intersection of biopharma and capital discipline holds the key to transforming global health outcomes,” Leung wrote in a LinkedIn post. “With Aulis Fund I, we are doubling down on that thesis – supported by a world-class team of operators, investors, and advisors and partnering with the brightest minds and innovators to build companies that redefine what is possible in medicine.”
With teams based out of Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and Boston, Aulis Capital focuses on startups developing innovative drugs, digital- and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven healthcare.
Aulis Capital announced in January 2026 its participation in US-based EpiBiologics’ $107 million Series B round to support the company’s next-generation protein degradation pipeline and platform targeting extracellular membrane and soluble proteins.
The launch of Aulis Capital’s debut fund marks a new chapter for its founding managing partner Leung, who spent almost two decades at Qiming before her official departure in February 2025.
At Qiming, Leung founded and led the firm’s healthcare practice since 2006, spearheading investments in companies like Chinese insulin developer Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, oncology and immune disease therapy company Zai Lab, vaccine maker CanSino Biologics and clinical-stage AI drug discovery firm Insilico Medicine.
