Cathay Innovation
About Cathay Innovation
Cathay Innovation is a multistage venture capital firm affiliated with Cathay Capital, investing in founders building transformative businesses across Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Its platform connects founders with investors and its ecosystem of leading Fortune 500 corporations to help startups scale and transform industries with consumer-to-enterprise and AI solutions in commerce, fintech, digital health, and mobility/energy. Cathay Innovation now manages over €2.5B AUM with offices in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, San Francisco, Mexico City, Shanghai, and Singapore and has invested in over 150 startups, including Chime, Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD), Glovo, Wallbox (NYSE: WBX), Owkin, Ledger, ZenBusiness, Alma, Descartes Underwriting, and more. Per Crunchbase, Cathay Innovation has made 176 investments, 68 as lead investor across 130 portfolio companies, with 18 exits including 7 IPOs.
Cathay Innovation was founded in Paris in 2015 by Denis Barrier and MingPo Cai, as the venture arm of Cathay Capital. Barrier is co-founder and CEO. Cai is founder and president of Cathay Capital. Third-party research lists Jacky Abitbol (Managing Partner, EU), Simon Wu (Partner, US), Nicolas du Cray (Partner, Southeast Asia) and Bruno Delahaye (Partner, EU Commerce) on the team. The firm has not publicly named a single partner who leads AI investing. Barrier is its main public voice on the AI thesis.
In May 2025 the firm closed Cathay Innovation Fund III at $1B. The firm describes it as the largest AI-dedicated VC fund from the European Union, with a global scope. PitchBook reports that a significant share of the capital comes from strategic LPs, including Sanofi and TotalEnergies. These LPs want access to new AI technologies. The firm frames its approach as vertical AI that connects startups with large industrial partners. Press coverage names digital health, fintech, consumer services, mobility and energy as focus sectors. Vestbee reported that the fund plans about 30 investments. By the time of the close it had put €235M into 14 companies, about half of them European. In March 2026 Cathay was one of the co-leads of Advanced Machine Intelligence's $1.03B round. That is the AI lab founded by Yann LeCun, and the Lounge deals desk lists the round as a Series A. Some press calls it a seed round. In 2026 Cathay also backed UpDoc's $18M seed round.
Cathay invests across stages. Third-party database F4 lists pre-seed through growth and a check range of $5M to $100M. It describes the firm as able to lead or follow. Vestbee reports that the firm intends to invest at least €50M in companies where it leads. The firm has not published an official check size range, so treat these figures as estimates. F4 also reports a typical decision time of one to two months.
- Advanced Machine Intelligence: Yann LeCun's world-model AI lab. Cathay co-led its $1.03B round in March 2026.
- UpDoc: clinical AI platform with FDA clearance for patient-facing LLM agents. Cathay took part in its $18M seed round in 2026.
- Tucuvi: AI care management platform in healthcare. Series A of about $20M in January 2026, with Cathay as lead per Goldilocks.
- GenLogs: AI freight intelligence. Series B of $60M in February 2026, per F4.
- Bioptimus: French biotech AI company. Series A of about $41M in January 2025, with Cathay as lead per Goldilocks.
- Nabla: French AI assistant for doctors, named by Vestbee as a portfolio company.
- Entalpic: AI materials discovery startup, named by Vestbee as a portfolio company.
- vestbee.com/insights/articles/cathay-innovation-closes-1b-fund
- pitchbook.com/news/articles/cathay-innovation-raises-record-1b-fund-fo
- medium.com/@denisbarrier/cathay-innovation-closes-1b-vc-fund-a-differe
- f4.fund/firms/cathay-innovation
- goldi.ai/intelligence/vc/cathay-innovation
- analyticsindiamag.com/ai-news/yann-lecuns-ai-startup-wins-103-bn-fundi
- thenextweb.com/news/yann-lecun-ami-labs-world-models-billion
- dealroom.co/news/135981-updoc-debuts-first-fda-cleared-clinical-ai-pla
Investing activity
Cathay Innovation has made 176 investments according to Crunchbase across 130 portfolio companies, and has led 68 rounds and seen 18 exits, 7 of them by IPO.
Cathay Innovation appears in 2 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $1.05B, and led 1 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed and Series A, with a median round size of $1.03B. The most recent are UpDoc (Seed, $18M, Jun 2026) and Advanced Machine Intelligence (Series A, $1.03B, Mar 2026).
Cathay Innovation most often invests alongside American Diabetes Association, Lilly Ventures, Polaris Partners and Oxeon Partners, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI and Foundation models.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Cathay Innovation
Who founded Cathay Innovation and when?
Denis Barrier and MingPo Cai founded it in Paris in 2015 as the venture arm of Cathay Capital. Barrier is co-founder and CEO.
How big is Cathay Innovation's AI fund?
Fund III closed at $1B in May 2025. The firm calls it the largest AI-dedicated VC fund from the EU, and it has global scope.
What check size does Cathay Innovation write?
The firm does not publish a range. F4 estimates $5M to $100M, and Vestbee reports an intent to invest at least €50M where it leads.
Does Cathay Innovation invest in early-stage AI startups?
Yes. It backed UpDoc's $18M seed round in 2026, and Tucuvi's Series A of about $20M in January 2026, which it led per Goldilocks. It also co-led the $1.03B Advanced Machine Intelligence round.
Which AI sectors does Cathay Innovation focus on?
Press coverage names digital health, fintech, consumer services, mobility and energy. Its portfolio also includes AI for logistics and materials discovery.
What AI companies has Cathay Innovation invested in?
Cathay Innovation's AI investments include UpDoc and Advanced Machine Intelligence. The 2 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Cathay Innovation based?
Cathay Innovation is based in San Francisco, California, United States.
What stage does Cathay Innovation invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Cathay Innovation has invested at Seed and Series A, with a median round of $1.03B. Cathay Innovation led 1 of those rounds.
Who does Cathay Innovation co-invest with?
Cathay Innovation's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are American Diabetes Association (1 deal), Lilly Ventures (1 deal), Polaris Partners (1 deal), Oxeon Partners (1 deal) and S32 (1 deal).
How can founders reach Cathay Innovation?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Cathay Innovation's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Cathay Innovation to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.