CAS Star was founded in 2013 by Mi Lei, Cao Huitao and Li Hao. Mi and Cao were researchers at the Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Science while Li was an veteran investor .[1][2][3]
Initially the firm had difficulties raising capital. Every industry the firm invested in was when it was in its decline and therefore was not popular. Investments were expected to take a long time before there were payoffs. As a result, many investors at the time did not believe in investing in hard tech that could not generate quick returns. In addition it was difficult to know which projects were good as there were many unreliable ones and due to the long investment cycle, it was difficult to determine their value until many years later.[2][3][4]
Apart from investing in companies themselves, CAS Star also invested in providing equipment, manpower and guidance to startups. Many startups came from scientists who were involved in research and development with little experience in managing a business or sufficient capital to acquire advance hardware. CAS Star noticed that without proper guidance, many startups would fail in the early stages.[2][3]
