Thomas Yao

Thomas Yao is a Partner at High-Flyer Capital based in Shanghai, China, where he leads early-stage investments across the Asia-Pacific region. Before joining the firm in January 2023, he served as an investor at ZhenFund from 2018 to 2022 and previously held product management roles at Alibaba. Yao has executed over 20 investments throughout his career, including a 2024 exit of an AI SaaS company, and recently led a $5 million Series A funding round for MiniMax in March 2025. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Tsinghua University, authored the "Investing in AI Waves" whitepaper in October 2024, and frequently speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt Asia. His current investment focus centers on pre-seed to Series A opportunities within the artificial intelligence, consumer internet, and enterprise software sectors across Greater China and Southeast Asia.