When the doctor "didn't do his job properly" and decided to plant a plant that would glow

Release time: November 21, 2024 | Information source: Yuan News

Li Renhan, 28, has just become a star in Hefei's entrepreneurial circle.

In March 2023, Li Renhan, who had not yet graduated with a Ph.D., registered a company in the Silicon Valley of Hefei University of Science and Technology called "Shenbi Biology". The name of "Magic Brush Creature" is taken from "Magic Brush Ma Liang", which means "creating a new world".

The "paintbrush" of Shenbi Biology is gene editing, genetic improvement and other technical means, using the "paintbrush" to empower agriculture. Gene editing is Li Renhan's "special skill". During his doctoral studies, he studied under Sun Qixin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of China Agricultural University. One of his main tasks was to "achieve species improvement of wheat" through gene editing.

But Li Renhan calls himself a "doctorate who doesn't do his job." He feels that pure scientific research is not enough. "No matter how advanced the technology is or how awesome the paper is, ordinary people don't care. What they care about is what product can make him shine."

Gene editing is Li Renhan's tool. He is aiming at the problem of plant luminescence. There are two inspirations.

One is his childhood memory of fireflies, "very beautiful."

The other is the movie "Avatar". Lee In-han said that he once dreamed of the world of Avatar when he was thinking hard about how to enter the market. "Can the luminous plants from the planet Avatar be transplanted to the earth?"

This is the starting point of Magic Biology - Li Inhan wants to cultivate "high-brightness self-luminous plants at night" through gene editing. Li Renhan believes that the market for luminous plants is vast and may change the nighttime landscape of cities in the future, including park greening and municipal road greening, which will usher in innovation.

With this idea, he spent eight months and finally received angel round financing from the well-known venture capital Meihua Venture Capital at the end of 2023.

From the end of 2023 to July 2024, he began to establish a physical company and a simple laboratory, both located at No. 469 Huatuo Lane, Hefei High-tech Zone. It was a corner of the first floor of a building. It was a small place with three or four rooms in total. It had a room full of plants and a darkroom. It was a world composed of a bunch of test kits and instruments. People were crowded together to work. The entrance was filled with freshly opened wooden boxes and found old furniture. Only by searching carefully could you find the company logo of "Magicpen Bio". The whole company was as messy as a college boys' dormitory after an all-nighter, full of excitement and exhaustion.

July 20, 2024, was a "very ordinary night". It was here that Li Inhan opened the darkroom and found that the "Tobacco multiflora" in the darkroom gave off a faint light, which was "visible to the naked eye."

"Is it done?" he said in his heart. Then he "trembled all over." He told the Yuan News reporter: It was a rare experience in his life, "because before it was 'finished,' he failed a total of 531 times." Such an accurate number comes from the good habit of recording failures that he developed when he was a Ph.D.

At the end of last month, Shenbi Biotechnology once again received a tens of millions of angel+ round of financing, which was additionally signed by Meihua Venture Capital.

The slogan of Meihua Venture Capital, a well-known Chinese venture capital, is to "help smart young people become entrepreneurs." It has invested in National University Leader, Qudian, Maverick Electric, Newborn City, Li Auto, Ucommune, etc. The leader Wu Shichun has authored the book "Heart Power". When he elaborated on his investment philosophy, he said:

"Many people don't have enough energy to be the number one. If we choose entrepreneurs, I would choose Liu Bang or Tang Seng. Mental energy ranks first, certainly not ability and cognition."

"Mental strength actually runs through all periods of your life, rather than pushing yourself through when you are in difficulty. That is a misunderstanding of mental strength."

In the narrow office at No. 469 Huatuo Lane, Li Renhan began to tell his story. His entrepreneurship started out as a wild idea but grew out of hard work. The following conversation was recorded by Yuan News:

"Yuan News": How many investors did you meet before Meihua Venture Capital decided to invest in you?

Li Renhan: More than 20.

"Yuan News": Were the eight months when you were looking for investors difficult?

Li Renhan: If you ask me to look back now, it was so difficult at the time that I didn’t even have the courage to go back. Because it was so difficult to raise funds last year, project financing fell off a cliff. But now I think again, if in half a year I look back at the difficulties I am facing now, I may feel that I can persevere again. My personality is "born in suffering and not knowing suffering".

"Yuan News": What is the toughest question investors have asked you?

Li Renhan: Investors are very direct, probably like "you have a doctorate, what can you do?" Actually I can totally understand. What did you say you were? Isn’t he just a doctor who has not graduated? At that time, "luminous plants" had not yet been made, and there was no space. You only had an idea, and it was not certain whether you could make it or not, and you might not be able to make it.

"Yuan News": What's your answer?

Li Renhan: Needless to say, there are many things to say, they will make judgments in their hearts.

"Yuan News": If Plum Blossom Venture Capital doesn't invest in you, what will you do? Still starting a business?

Li Renhan: I have thought about this. If you don’t vote, I will do it myself.

"Yuan News": Where does the money come from?

Li Renhan: Minato. In fact, in October, I had already started working on my own. At that time, no one had invested in us, so I borrowed 1 million from relatives, friends, and classmates, because I was graduating in half a year and could not wait any longer. But later we got lucky and got an angel wheel.

"Yuan News": How did you feel when you found out you got the angel wheel?

Li Renhan: I was doing experiments in the laboratory that afternoon when WeChat rang. Wu Shichun, the founder of Plum Blossom Venture Capital, told me the news and also pulled me into a WeChat group with all the big guys he had invested in. When I look at the people in the group, I feel like they are all people I will never come into contact with in my life. It felt very unreal at the time.

"Yuan News": Did Wu Shichun tell you what impressed you about him?

Li Inhan: Maybe only he knows this. What I can do is every time I report to investors, show the same enthusiasm and attitude as when I reported to investors for the first time. In fact, it is very difficult to maintain the same enthusiasm and attitude after speaking dozens of times.

"Yuan News": Are you nervous?

Li Renhan: I grew up in rural Fuyang. When I came to Hefei to go to university, I knew that I had some social anxiety and would stumble when giving speeches on stage, but I decided to start training myself from that time on. My method is to be the officiant at a wedding. This is what I thought. If I dared to speak in front of so many strangers, and then went back to school to speak in front of familiar teachers and classmates, wouldn’t it be all over the place?

At that time, I went to Hefei's "Wedding Street" and went into stores one by one to ask if they were hiring part-time workers. Finally, I found a company that was willing to hire me. I paid 1,000 yuan for tuition and became an apprentice. The master gave me an order-taking group, and after memorizing some skills, I spent 600 yuan on a suit at a small store opened by a senior who started his own business. I remember that the pants were a gift from my senior, "Heilan House". That's how I got started.

My first wedding reception was in Feidong. I took an hour's bus ride and then walked for half an hour to the hotel. It was also the first time in my life that I wore a suit. Because I was afraid that I would be late and go too early, the bride and groom had not arrived yet, so I didn’t dare to stay outside, so I hid in the toilet and recited the words.

"Yuan News": When did you stop being nervous?

Li Renhan: Suddenly, I dared to look into the eyes of strangers below and make eye contact with them.

"Yuan News": Are you working as a wedding officiant to make money, or to train yourself?

Li Renhan: Train yourself. Back then, you could earn 600 yuan as a master of ceremonies, but if you don't know how to do this to make money, being a master of ceremonies is still very challenging. I once heard someone say that when you feel uncomfortable, it means you are going uphill. Going downhill is very comfortable, but when you feel uncomfortable, you are also breaking through your comfort zone. Later, I was not nervous when I spoke in public and reported to senior leaders.

"Yuan News": Is it difficult to develop this luminous plant?

Li Renhan: Every time we failed, we recorded it. Later, it took a total of 532 experiments to succeed.

"Yuan News": Do you think it will definitely succeed?

Li Renhan: In fact, the process is difficult to describe. We changed directions several times during the process. Blind men touch the elephant, because this is the boundary of science, and you don't know where you are touching.

"Yuan News": Will you have self-doubt?

Li Renhan: Very common. Too much time spent in self-doubt.

"Yuan News": How to solve it?

Li Inhan: Take a nap and continue working the next day.

"Yuan News": Will anyone in the market be interested in luminous plants? Are you confident?

Li Renhan: We did a test before in Hechai 1972. We took some luminous plants in an alley without any drainage. 20,000 people entered Hechai that day, and half of them came to us. At present, we have also established a base of more than 6,000 square meters in Luyang District, Hefei City, with a monthly output of 500,000 plants. The current varieties include petunias, sunflowers, etc. In about one to two months, we will see luminous plants on the market. The first step will be To C; the next step will be To B. To C is a gift; To B is for the night view of the city.

"Yuan News": How big is this track?

Li Inhan: I think it’s at least one trillion. In fact, it (luminous plant) belongs to a synthetic biology track, and even this track is small.

"Yuan News": What is the most important quality of an entrepreneur?

Li Renhan: Can endure hardship. The common traits of entrepreneurs I like are persistence and resilience. They can endure hardships, and I can also endure hardships. I have always believed that "there are no useless experiences in life."