N eil Shen is arguably the most successful and influential venture capitalist in China's modern history. He is the founding and managing partner of HongShan (formerly Sequoia Capital China), the Chinese arm of the Silicon Valley venture capital giant. After a successful career as an investment banker and as a triumphant entrepreneur who co-founded the travel giant Ctrip (now Trip.com Group), Shen partnered with Sequoia to launch its China operations in 2005. Under his leadership, the firm has become the undisputed powerhouse of Chinese venture capital.

Shen is renowned for his 'Midas touch', having made a series of legendary and phenomenally successful early-stage investments in nearly half of all of China's most valuable technology companies. His portfolio is a who's who of Chinese tech giants, including Alibaba, ByteDance (the parent of TikTok), Meituan, Pinduoduo, and Shein. His ability to identify and nurture future industry leaders has generated extraordinary returns and has given him immense influence over the direction of China's technology landscape. In 2023, he led the split of the Chinese unit from its U.S. parent, rebranding it as HongShan to operate as an independent firm. He is a permanent resident of Hong Kong and a citizen of Singapore.