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Biography

Yan Shi Zhang (Chinese: Zhang Yanshi on August 28, 1969-) was born in Bukit Timah Hill, Singapore, a Chinese venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Yan shi zhang is the founder and CEO of Polaris Venture Fund. Yan shi zhang is famous for his long-term venture capital and angel investment. He is engaged in: IT core technology, financial technology, medical care, AR/VR, robotics, drones, space technology blockchain, and other cutting-edge technologies that have great value to society. Currently mainly active in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrency. He is also a well-known philanthropist. There are substantial charitable giving in Singapore and the US. Because of Yan shi zhang's unique vision in investing in enterprises and different fields, he dares to take risks. Most of the projects and businesses invested have been successful. In 2018, he was invited to join Skuchain and served as the chairman of the board.

In 1990, he entered the Department of Finance of the National University of Singapore to study for a master's degree in financial mechanics. In 1995, he came into contact with the market for his first venture capital investment. He made a small investment in the start-up stage of a technology company, but it aroused the interest of Yan Shi Zhang. He obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1998 and has since been engaged in VC management and investment in the United States.

From 2002 to 2004, Yan Shi Zhang, as the head of 500 Startups Greater China, became one of the Silicon Valley venture capitalists who took the lead in leading international venture capital funds to open representative offices in mainland China and conduct local investment business. Yan Shi Zhang has successively led and invested in successful companies listed in the United States, such as Baidu, Kongkong, and Focus Media. At this time, Yan shi Zhang's already has 3 million US dollars.

2006: Invested in Aerohive Networks (NYSE: HIBE), an advanced enterprise wireless networking technology provider, exited after seed and Series A financing and was successful. At this time, Yan shi Zhang's personal assets reached 4 million US dollars.

In 2007, Yan shi Zhang left the position of 500 Startups and established his first investment partnership with his friends: Polaris Venture Fund. He found 6 friends and invested a total of 10 million US dollars. Apart from sleep, Yan shi Zhang spends almost all of his time at work. From 2007 to 2012, he invested in more than 20 start-ups and participated in angel rounds of financing, with a single investment ranging from $200,000 to $1 million. Mainly invest in some early-stage startups and provide them with guidance in business operation and business model refinement. In 2013, the market capitalization of Polaris Venture Fund reached $48 million. Of that, $12 million belongs to Yan shi zhang.

2013: Yan Shi Zhang led Polaris Venture Fund to participate in start-ups mainly seed and A rounds with successful exits and high growth: Chime Bank (Invested in 2013, and $14.5B valuation in 2020) Woomoo (acquired by Priceline) Orbeus (acquired by Amazon) Ozlo (acquired by Facebook) and was listed as the first to lead venture capital on TechCrunch's 2013 list. At this time, Yan shi zhang's assets have reached 30 million US dollars.

BoostVC, which invested and participated in 2013, began to engage in global incubation and investment in the fields of Bitcoin, blockchain technology, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). Hundreds of projects have been successfully incubated so far, and it is currently one of the largest seed accelerators and blockchain industry incubators in the world.

In 2015, ItBit was a bitcoin exchange established in Singapore in 2013. In 2015, Polaris Venture Fund invested US$5 million in financing. Investors in this round of financing include RRE Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, investor Jay W Jordan II and James Pallotta, chairman of Raptor Capital Management. New York-based bitcoin exchange ItBit has raised a total of $25 million in Series A funding. Most importantly, ItBit has obtained a trust company charter issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, making ItBit the first bitcoin exchange to receive this charter, and making ItBit the first bitcoin exchange subject to and regulated by US banking laws. coin company. Obtaining the trust company charter means that U.S. dollar funds on the ItBit platform will be held in FDIC-guaranteed accounts, although ItBit has not disclosed which banks these accounts belong to.

In September 2017, Yan Shi Zhang, Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital completed a $50 million Series A financing for Bitmain, a semiconductor design company headquartered in Beijing, China. A company that primarily designs and manufactures custom chips for Bitcoin mining machines. At this time, the market value of Polaris Venture Fund has reached $500M

Yan Shi Zhang joined Skuchain in 2018 and served as the chairman of the board of directors. Skuchain is a cooperation that mainly uses blockchain technology to strengthen the supply chain of enterprises, and has created a venture fund to invest in artificial intelligence, biomedical and other high-tech, aerospace financial services. He has successively led investment cases such as HCW Bio (Nasdaq: HCWB), Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeons (BHPS), etc. Skuchain was founded in 2014, and the limited partner investors are mostly high-net-worth entrepreneurs in the United States and founders of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. $2M annual salary.

In 2018, AnChain ai, a leading AI blockchain security company headquartered in Silicon Valley, recently completed a multi-million-dollar seed round of financing. The investor is a well-known Silicon Valley venture capital institution Fengyuan Ventures (AMINO Capital) Risk from the Wall Street hedge fund background Investment institutions CRCM Ventures, as well as Skuchain, etc.

In 2019, Yan Shi Zhang participated in the Series A financing of Germany-based blockchain finance company Bitwala, led by Sony, and raised a total of nearly $14.5 million in Series A financing. Bitwala offers crypto banking services, built-in bitcoin wallet, debit card and transaction options. Notably, thanks to the services provided by SolarisBank, customers can trade Bitcoin directly from their existing accounts. The company said it now has customers in 31 countries in the European Economic Area, and its bitcoin value is now over $60 million. At this time, Yan shi zhang's personal wealth reached 200M US dollars, In 2006, Forbes magazine named the global authoritative venture capitalist annual selection award "Forbes Midas List" career achievements:

Introduced to China, the list was first published, and Yan Shi Zhang was named one of the honorary winners of the "Chinese Venture Capitalist Golden Hand Award".

Won the 2017 Global Best Cross-border Venture Capital Chinese of China Investment Group

The Best Venture Capital Figure of China Venture 2016-2017

Reference

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