Zhang Yiming enters private equity with AI-focused Cool River Venture

Zhang Yiming, co-founder of ByteDance, has ventured into private equity with Cool River Venture, a Hong Kong-based firm he established in May 2023. Regulatory filings show that Cool River recently secured a Type 9 license from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, authorizing it to offer asset management services.

The firm operates as a private limited company, with Galaxy LLC, a Cayman Islands-registered entity, as its sole director, according to Bloomberg. According to local media reports, Cool River intends to focus on early-stage investments in technology, particularly artificial intelligence, aligning with ByteDance’s broader AI initiatives.

ByteDance has been accelerating the integration of AI across its offerings. Douyin, its flagship app in China, uses AI-powered search to refine content recommendations based on user habits. Similarly, Feishu, ByteDance’s office software, leverages AI for productivity tools, including voice-to-text task summaries.

In October, ByteDance unveiled AI video generation capabilities through its PixelDance and Seaweed large models, which are integrated into its ChatGPT-like AI assistant app, Doubao. This development positions ByteDance alongside other Chinese tech giants, such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, all of which are racing to deploy AI-driven solutions. Baidu was among the first to respond to ChatGPT’s debut, launching Ernie Bot with its proprietary AI model. Alibaba and Tencent have followed with their AI systems, Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) and Hunyuan, respectively.

Zhang’s pivot into private equity mirrors the trajectory of other Chinese tech magnates like Alibaba’s Jack Ma, who has pursued personal ventures such as Majia Kitchen since stepping away from active leadership in 2019. Zhang similarly left his roles at ByteDance in 2021 and has since focused on new initiatives.