36Kr Launches Its 2026 Most-Watched Companies List, Spotlighting Long-Termism and Real Value

Background and

Context 36Kr’s Venture Research Institute has officially launched the selection process for its 2026 Most-Watched Companies list, marking a significant inflection point in the evaluation criteria of China’s primary capital markets. This initiative is not merely an industry award or a promotional exercise; it serves as a comprehensive reflection of the shifting paradigms within the venture capital ecosystem. For years, the market was characterized by rapid expansion, frequent conceptual hype, and fluid capital flows, where a startup’s visibility was often determined by its narrative prowess, sectoral popularity, and the timing of funding windows. However, the signals emanating from this 2026 selection indicate a decisive transition toward a phase defined by real value validation, industrial implementation, and long-term certainty. The core message is unequivocal: the investment standard is moving away from storytelling and fundraising speed toward technical moats, commercialization闭环 (closed-loop), sustainable growth, and the ability to land in industrial settings. The context of this shift is rooted in the maturation of the primary market, which has moved past the era of emotion-driven valuations and speculative imagination. Capital allocation logic is evolving from a "first-mover advantage" mindset to a "quality-first" approach. Investors are now prioritizing genuine operational performance, revenue quality, and commercialization efficiency. They are increasingly willing to commit time and capital to companies that possess a robust technological foundation, clear application scenarios, and demonstrable capacity for sustained growth. Innovation is no longer treated as a mere buzzword or label; it must be verified through products, customer acquisition, delivery capabilities, repeat purchase rates, profit improvement, and industry penetration. This represents a fundamental change in how "attention" is defined and valued in the current economic climate.

Deep Analysis

The criteria for being deemed "Most-Watched" in 2026 reveal a rigorous filtering mechanism that prioritizes dual competitiveness in both technological innovation and commercial execution. In the past, attention was often synonymous with fast funding rounds, rapid valuation escalations, and high media exposure. Today, sustained attention is reserved for companies that can prove their stability and resilience in complex environments. The market is re-pricing the concept of "attention," equating it not with chasing trends, but with the ability to predict and deliver on future industrial capabilities. This is particularly evident in the artificial intelligence sector, which has become the central narrative of the 2026 venture landscape. Unlike previous years, where the focus was on the boundaries of large model capabilities, parameter scales, and infrastructure races, the current phase is characterized by pragmatism. Technologies such as large models, intelligent agents, embodied intelligence, and robotics are transitioning from technical validation and pilot scenarios to scaled applications. For capital, this transition is critical because it shifts the investment logic from "potential future size" to "existing return pathways." AI companies are now facing harder, more substantive questions from investors: Is the product truly embedded in business workflows? Are customers willing to pay for results? Can model advantages be沉淀 (precipitated) into industry barriers? Does the solution reduce costs, improve efficiency, or create new revenue streams? These questions force AI firms to evolve from pure technology companies into true industrial entities. Furthermore, 36Kr’s emphasis on domestic computing power, algorithms, and data tools highlights the importance of full-stack autonomous controllability. The market recognizes that the companies capable of crossing cycles are not necessarily those with the largest traffic or consumer apps, but those that have established solid positions in key foundational capabilities. In the era of large-scale AI industrial application,底层 (underlying) computing efficiency, toolchain maturity, data closed-loop capabilities, and engineering stability directly determine the quality of commercialization. The selection process implicitly establishes a new set of screening standards. First, the existence of genuine technical barriers is scrutinized; advantages must be verifiable and capable of forming competitive moats that strengthen with scale. Second, the clarity of the commercial path is paramount, whether in enterprise services, smart manufacturing, robotics, or vertical AI applications. Markets are looking for companies that have identified customers willing to pay continuously and have established healthy delivery models. Third, growth must be robust and sustainable. While high growth is desirable, the source of that growth is more important: it must not rely on subsidies, must have replicability, and must demonstrate resilience in the face of environmental changes. This holistic view demands that companies be composite entities, integrating technology, product, organization, and business, rather than single-point specialists with weak peripheral capabilities.

Industry Impact

This selection process reflects a deep reconstruction of China’s venture capital ecology. Capital is no longer willing to bet on all possibilities simply because a track is large or a traffic entry point is strong, as was common in the early internet era. Simultaneously, the industrial sector’s demands on technology companies have intensified. Startups must not only create new technologies but also understand scenarios, industries, customers, and delivery processes. This shift places significant pressure on entrepreneurs, as fundraising can no longer be achieved through stories and hot topics alone. Teams must face realities such as revenue, profit, customer retention, unit economics, and organizational efficiency earlier in their lifecycle. However, this also presents an opportunity: as the market returns to rationality, teams with genuine capability, patience, and industrial insight are more likely to stand out. When the hype subsides, capital will carefully distinguish between those creating noise and those creating value. Companies that may have been poor at generating volume but strong in technical and commercial accumulation are now poised to enter the mainstream spotlight. The emphasis on "mature commercialization paths" is another critical impact area. Frontier technology tracks such as large models, robotics, and industrial intelligence require long R&D cycles, high investment intensity, and complex industrial coordination. Without a supported commercialization path, even the best technologies can be stifled by funding pressures and organizational costs. Consequently, capital is increasingly favoring companies that have moved beyond the pilot stage and can be replicated across multiple clients or scenarios. Maturity, in this context, does not mean becoming a large corporation, but rather proving that a solution is applicable beyond a single case and possesses the potential for scaled promotion. From the perspective of media and industry research institutions, such lists serve to establish a new set of observation samples. In periods of industrial transition, it is difficult to quickly distinguish between short-term hype and future directions. Continuous selection and sorting help沉淀 (precipitate) a more valuable corporate profile, showing which tracks are active, why they are watched, what problems they solve, and how they build competitiveness. This sample value is crucial not only for investment institutions but also for entrepreneurs, industrial players, and local policy makers. As the market moves from generalized narratives to structural opportunities, those who can identify high-quality samples early will gain the initiative in the next phase. The selection also reinforces the trend of "high-quality companies concentrating attention." When funds are more prudent and resources are limited, external research, rankings, and industry communication become important channels for attention allocation. For companies with substance but still in their growth phase, entering such a high-visibility list can enhance their visibility among investors, partners, and industrial clients. For the market, this helps aggregate resources toward companies with genuine capabilities. The significance of such selections lies not in creating new label worship, but in helping the industry establish a judgment framework closer to real operations and industrial value.

Outlook

The phrase "the industry uses the most straightforward rules to verify" accurately captures the current market atmosphere. The straightforward rule is result-orientation: has the market recognized the value? Has customer value been formed? Has the company proven its ability to cross cycles? Capital ultimately seeks returns, and after multiple waves of conceptual fluctuation, companies that can be continuously verified carry more weight than any short-term buzzwords. Therefore, the primary market in 2026 is not devoid of enthusiasm; rather, that enthusiasm is directed toward companies that can withstand the test of time and execution. Viewed from a longer temporal dimension, this selection can be understood as a footnote to China’s innovation and entrepreneurship entering a new stage. Over the past decade, the sector has experienced the dividends of the mobile internet, platform expansion, consumer innovation, and industrial internet transformation. Now, with the upgrade to AI and hard technology, the core metrics are closer to industrial capability itself. Future companies that are continuously favored by the market will need to answer two questions simultaneously: Is the technology strong enough to form irreplaceability? Is the business stable enough to support long-term development? One determines the ceiling, and the other determines survival. Companies that can balance both are more likely to become the true answers selected by capital. For observers, this upcoming "Most-Watched" list will serve as an important window into the venture capital wind direction for the coming year. Which directions continue to be favored? Which tracks are entering a洗牌 (reshuffling) phase? Which companies represent new paths of industrial integration? Clues can be found in the selected samples. In an environment of comprehensive AI penetration, hard technology value re-evaluation, and capital returning to rationality, "being watched" will no longer be a light promotional term, but a market signal with screening implications. It means a company is not only seen but also seriously studied; not only discussed but also considered capable of realization. Ultimately, 36Kr’s launch of the 2026 Most-Watched Companies list is, on the surface, a collection and screening of corporate samples, but in substance, it is outlining a new value coordinate system for the market. In this coordinate system, conceptual heat yields to implementation capability, capital stories yield to commercial closed-loops, short-term sprints yield to sustainable growth, and single-point technology displays yield to systematic industrial capabilities. For entrepreneurs, this is a realistic and clear reminder; for investment institutions, it is a reaffirmation of their judgment framework; for the entire industry, it signals that a venture capital phase that places greater emphasis on real value, long-termism, and hard strength is accelerating into formation. Who is continuously seen in this stage will ultimately depend on who truly solves problems, creates value, and firmly leaves that value in the market.