JP GAN
The venture investor behind Bilibili, a longtime Qiming partner who left to co-found INCE Capital.
JP Gan spent about 13 years at Qiming Venture Partners becoming one of China's most respected startup investors. His signature win is Bilibili, the video platform beloved by young Chinese users, where he was an early backer and a board member. In 2019 he left to co-found his own firm, INCE Capital. His taste runs to internet and consumer companies with fiercely loyal user bases. He is proof that in venture capital, the quiet, patient operators often walk away with the best track records.
Net Worth
Estimated $300 million+
Nationality
Chinese
Time Horizon
Long-Term
Risk Appetite
7 / 10
Net Worth Context
- · 300x the average American's lifetime earnings, stacked and waiting.
CAREER & BACKGROUND
JP Gan built his career across two worlds. He started in US finance, working in investment banking and at the Carlyle Group in the 1990s before moving into Chinese venture capital.
His big chapter came at Qiming Venture Partners, one of China's top firms, where he spent around 13 years as a managing partner. There he backed some of the country's most-loved internet companies.
The standout was Bilibili, a video and community platform for young people, where he was an early investor and a board member. In 2019 he struck out on his own, co-founding INCE Capital to keep investing in the internet and consumer startups he knows best.
COMPANIES & ROLES
JP Gan invests through INCE Capital, the firm he co-founded in 2019. Before that, his home was Qiming Venture Partners, where he spent about 13 years.
His most famous bet is Bilibili, the video-sharing and community site adored by young Chinese users, which went public in 2018. He also backed Meituan, the delivery and services giant, and Zhihu, sometimes called the Quora of China.
He has a taste for internet platforms with intensely loyal communities. Basically, he likes companies whose users would riot if they shut down.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Gan hunts for internet and consumer companies with die-hard users. He is drawn to platforms where the community itself is the moat, meaning the thing that keeps competitors out.
Bilibili is the perfect example. Its users are so loyal and so engaged that no copycat can easily peel them away.
He tends to get in early and stay involved, often taking a board seat and helping for years. He is not a loud, headline-chasing investor.
He is patient, focused, and picky. Find a product people are obsessed with, then back it before the crowd catches on.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Gan's risk is the classic early-stage kind. He backs companies before they are proven, when the community is small and the business model is still fuzzy.
Bilibili was not an obvious winner when he first bet on it. Plenty of investors could not see how an anime-and-video site for teenagers would ever make real money.
He was willing to wait years for the answer. His concentrated, get-in-early style means patience is not optional.
It is the whole strategy. The danger is that early bets can stay unproven for a long, uncomfortable time.
Money Habits
Gan is one of the quieter figures in Chinese venture capital, which is saying something in an industry full of self-promoters. He does not chase press or build a personal brand the way some peers do.
His energy goes into the companies and their founders. That low-key style is part of his reputation.
He is known as a serious, hands-on investor rather than a celebrity one. Public detail about how he spends his money is scarce, which fits perfectly with the private way he operates.
BIGGEST WIN
Bilibili is JP Gan's masterpiece. He backed the video and community platform early, when many investors could not understand why an anime-loving teen audience would ever be valuable.
He was an early investor and joined its board. When Bilibili listed on Nasdaq in 2018, it validated years of patience.
The company grew into one of China's most important internet platforms, worth billions and central to how young Chinese people spend time online. It is the deal that defines his reputation.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Gan's hardest stretch was timing he could not control. In 2019 he left the safety of Qiming to build INCE Capital from scratch.
Then came the storm. Starting around 2020 and 2021, Chinese regulators cracked down hard on tech and internet companies, and the market punished them brutally.
Even Bilibili, his signature win, saw its stock crash more than 80 percent from its 2021 peak. Investors who loaded up on Chinese internet names at the top got crushed.
The lesson is old but painful. You can pick the right companies and still get hammered when the whole environment turns against you.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Gan believes the best companies are built around communities that cannot be copied. Back the platform users love, not just the one with good numbers today.
Get in early, then be patient enough to let the story play out over years, not quarters. He favors focus over spreading thin, betting on a smaller number of companies he understands deeply.
He also puts weight on trusting the founder, since in the early days the person matters more than the plan. It is a slow, conviction-driven way to invest.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Gan keeps his personal life private, in keeping with his low-profile style. He has spent his career bridging the US and China, comfortable in both business cultures.
What is clear from the public record is his reputation among founders, who tend to describe him as steady, straight-talking, and genuinely helpful. He is the rare investor who seems to prefer the work to the spotlight.
EDUCATION
JP Gan got much of his real financial education on the job. He spent the 1990s in US finance, including a stretch at the Carlyle Group, before moving into Chinese venture capital.
That grounding taught him how to read businesses and structure deals. He then spent around 13 years at Qiming Venture Partners, which is where he truly learned to spot great startups.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
Gan is not an author, so there is no JP Gan book to buy
For readers who want to understand his early-conviction, community-first style, two reads help
Makes the case for backing bold, contrarian bets before anyone else believes, which is basically Gan's whole game
Maps the Chinese internet world where Gan made his name, from the founders to the fierce competition
As an Amazon Associate, Netfigo earns from qualifying purchases. Book links above may be affiliate links.
QUOTES (5)
We backed Bilibili when most people could not see how it would ever make money. That is exactly when you have to be early.
I would rather own a real piece of a few companies I understand deeply than a little bit of everything.
The strongest moat a company can have is a community that would be heartbroken if it disappeared.
In the earliest days, you are betting on the founder more than the business plan.
Patience is not a nice-to-have in venture. It is the entire job.
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