Almost all focus on AI and hard technology tracks! New trends in venture capital recruitment: urgent hiring for investment positions, prioritizing post-95s

The heat of the recruitment market has always been the best indicator of industry prosperity. For the venture capital circle, fundraising data can directly reflect whether the market is warming up, while large-scale hiring hides institutions’ expectations and confidence in the market for a longer period.

Since the beginning of the year, the public recruitment announcement from the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund has ignited market enthusiasm, with several leading domestic venture capital (VC) institutions also appearing in the recruitment market. The positions offered are concentrated in investment research analysis, investment, and fundraising, with hiring for dollar and dual-currency funds being particularly active on social media.

“In recent months, I’ve been busy helping clients find talent, with the most urgent demand in investment positions. The demand for investment research and risk control positions in the middle and back office has also increased,” headhunter Wu Lan told reporters, candidly stating that the recruitment demands on hand are significantly more than in previous years.

Behind the surge in large-scale recruitment demands is an “arms race” for top companies in popular sectors. Just under three months into 2026, continuous financing news has emerged from companies in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), embodied intelligence, and quantum computing, filling the industry with a heightened fear of missing out (FOMO). VC institutions urgently need to “increase their troops” to join this “war for talent.”

VC/PE Urgently Hiring for Investment Positions

“We haven’t hired anyone in the past few years, but we are urgently looking for an investment director now, as we have several new funds ready to launch and need to find projects quickly,” a partner at a small VC institution in Shenzhen told reporters. In fact, this institution has a fund scale of only a few hundred million yuan and has invested in relatively few projects, but the quality requirements for targets are very high, making recruitment more precise.

If small institutions are like this, larger institutions are no different. Several leading VC institutions have told reporters that this year the demand for investment positions is particularly urgent. On one hand, the fundraising market warmed up last year, and many institutions successfully raised funds and launched new funds. According to statistics from Zhizhong ZERONE, in 2025, national institutional limited partners (LPs) made a total of 9,319 investments, a 36% increase from 2024. On the other hand, sectors like artificial intelligence and robotics are extremely hot, forcing institutions to go all out to seize opportunities for quality projects.

Ruan Qingguo, president and managing partner of Chuangdongfang Investment, also said in an interview, “Our recruitment scale this year is larger than in previous years, with a focus on expanding the investment line, planning to hire 6 to 8 senior investment managers or above.” He explained that this year’s adjustment in recruitment strategy is primarily to keep pace with the company’s scaling and professionalization of investment business and to enhance overall investment judgment and industrial layout capabilities, placing the recruitment focus entirely on core business lines and high-quality talent.

From the perspective of institution types, the number of positions released by RMB funds is significantly higher than that of dollar funds, but dollar funds have a stronger recruitment presence on social platforms. Institutions like Hillhouse Capital, IDG Capital, Meihua Venture Capital, and Yaotou Capital have recently posted recruitment information, most of which are for investment and pre-investment positions.

Trend of Younger Investors is Obvious

While venture capital institutions are urgently hiring, they are also profoundly reconstructing their talent standards.

More than a decade ago, the first batch of investors in the venture capital industry mostly came from securities firms, investment banks, and other financial institutions, having successfully invested in many early public companies with their abilities to analyze data, understand financial reports, and execute trades. However, today, investors without an engineering or industrial background and who do not understand technology are almost not considered by venture capital institutions.

“Many institutions are not hiring anyone born before 1997 for investment positions; they want experienced young people,” Wu Lan told reporters. She mentioned that a VC client she is currently serving mainly focuses on semiconductor investments, requiring investment managers to be young individuals with an industrial background. The reason is that this wave of investment is in AI and embodied intelligence, which are next-generation technologies. Those born after 2000 are true digital natives who inherently understand these new technologies.

Liu Zhou, founding partner and chairman of Dacheng Caizhi, also shared with reporters the new trend in the industry: “Over the past two to three years, we have invested in over 50 companies in the artificial intelligence field, and many quality projects have been initiated by young people who graduated just a few years ago.” In Dacheng, many investment managers who can deliver impressive results are post-90s individuals under 35, and even those born in 1995 are beginning to emerge. In his view, the trend of younger investors has become a prominent feature in the venture capital circle, especially among investors in cutting-edge sectors like AI and robotics, who are increasingly younger.

However, Liu Zhou also admitted that not all sectors impose such strict age requirements. For instance, in the commercial aerospace field, the age requirements for investors are much more relaxed; furthermore, there are also no absolute age restrictions for middle and back office positions like risk control.

Currently, as AI technology permeates all areas, many industry insiders believe that AI is merely a tool and will not replace investors. Technology will only amplify the core value of talent, rather than substitute professional judgment and humanistic thinking. Dacheng Caizhi also believes that while AI has greatly improved the efficiency of information processing and data mining, the ultimate factors determining the success or failure of investments and fundraising are still the judgment of industry trends, understanding of the essence of business, grasp of human nature and cycles, as well as the ability to long-term connect resources and create value.

Based on this judgment, Chuangdongfang has also clarified its selection criteria for core positions. Ruan Qingguo stated, “The core of investment positions focuses on two abilities: deep value judgment and full-cycle post-investment empowerment. They need to accurately identify technology and industry trends while also helping companies secure resources and provide long-term empowerment; fundraising positions emphasize trust building and institutional resource linking, requiring an understanding of asset allocation and a long-term service mindset.” Moreover, both types of positions require candidates to be proficient in AI tools and have a comprehensive risk control awareness.

Empathizing with Young Entrepreneurs

Currently, recruitment in the venture capital circle is almost entirely focused on the AI and hard technology sectors, with “engineering and industrial background” becoming a hard requirement. Some institutions even specify that they want to target talent from companies like Doubao, DeepSeek, and the product lines and laboratories of the “six small tigers” of large models.

Of course, some institutions also admit, “We can’t afford to hire people from large companies.” Furthermore, in the investment field, merely understanding technology is far from enough; it is a multidimensional consideration. “Frankly speaking, we are currently not deliberately ‘poaching’ from large companies. We greatly appreciate the ‘geek spirit’ and dedication to technological realization that comes with large company talent. This is their inherent advantage, and we respect it. However, investment requires a combination of breadth and depth,” stated representatives from Dacheng Caizhi. They place greater emphasis on the intrinsic qualities of individuals. “If you have a background in a large company but also possess curiosity about the business world, the ability to quickly learn new fields, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty, our doors are wide open. Conversely, if you only have the halo of a large company, we will be more cautious.”

In the context of accelerated technological iteration and changes in business models, it is important to note the significant generational characteristics of entrepreneurs. Many outstanding unicorn founders today are post-90s or even younger Generation Z individuals, whose growth environments, ways of thinking, and communication contexts are significantly different from those of previous generations of entrepreneurs. This presents new challenges for investors in cutting-edge technologies—not only must they understand technology, but they must also be able to empathize with young entrepreneurs and understand their thoughts and concerns.

“We are currently proactively hiring a batch of investment managers who understand the new economy and future industries, capable of resonating with young technology entrepreneurs and truly understanding founders from the perspectives of technical logic and entrepreneurial concepts,” Ruan Qingguo said. He emphasized that engaging with entrepreneurs with an equal and accompanying mindset is essential to achieve a mutual fit between capital and entrepreneurial teams.

As young entrepreneurs become mainstream, Dacheng Caizhi has also put forward three core “synchronization” requirements for the new generation of investors: First, synchronization in age and mindset; do not look down on or condescend to entrepreneurs, but approach them as learners and companions to understand their dreams and anxieties, maintaining a youthful mindset that can embrace change; second, synchronization in technical language; they must develop a compound capability of “industry + investment,” delve into the front lines of the industry, continuously research cutting-edge technologies, and understand the business logic behind technologies, being able to discuss products and development using the “lingo” of entrepreneurs to establish professional trust; third, synchronization in value provision; do not just act as a capital provider but become long-term partners of entrepreneurs, providing substantial post-investment empowerment such as linking industrial resources and guiding organizational development based on the company’s growth stage, truly walking alongside entrepreneurs.

This article was originally published in the Securities Times on March 26, 2026, A2 edition.

Proofreader: Liao Shengchao

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