Lin Junyang, the former head of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Tongyi Qianwen model team, left the company in March and has now officially founded Pragmatik (P7K) Labs (语用科技) in Shanghai, focusing on next-generation AI agents. The company has secured a joint lead investment from Gaorong Capital and Sequoia Capital China, with follow-on investments from Tencent (HKG: 0700) and the Shanghai Future Industry Fund, achieving a post-money valuation of $2 billion.
Sources indicate that the domestic operating entity, Pragmatik (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., was established on May 13, with a series of business registration changes occurring on July 1. Currently, Gaorong Capital holds a 4.25% stake through its Gaorong DAI Holding Limited, Sequoia Capital China collectively owns 5% via multiple entities, and both the Shanghai Future Industry Fund affiliate and Tencent each hold a 1% stake. Another entity, Vantage Clean Energy International, holds 0.75%. Lin Junyang controls approximately 88% of the equity through direct and indirect means, maintaining absolute control for the founding team.
At 33 years old, Lin Junyang was once the youngest P10-level technical executive at Alibaba, holding a bachelor's and master's degree from Peking University. He joined Alibaba's DAMO Academy in 2019 and was appointed to lead the development of the Tongyi Qianwen series of large language models in late 2022, becoming the core external representative for the Qwen project. On March 4 of this year, he announced his departure from Alibaba on social media platform X.
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