Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A (WDH.US) Shen Peng Named to the "2026 Hurun U40 China Entrepreneurship Pioneers" List

On October 29, the Hurun Research Institute, the world's largest compiler of startup company rankings, released the "2026 Hurun U40 China Entrepreneurship Pioneers," with 366 entrepreneurs aged 40 and under making the list. Shen Peng, founder and CEO of Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A (WDH.US), was selected for the list, marking his third time being included since the list was first published in 2023. Others selected in the same period include Wang Xingxing, founder of Unitree Robotics; Wang Ning, founder of POP MART; Cai Haoyu, co-founder of miHoYo; and Yan Junjie, founder of MiniMax. Image: Honorary certificate for Shen Peng's selection to the "2026 Hurun U40 China Entrepreneurship Pioneers" list The "Hurun U40 China Entrepreneurship Pioneers" aims to identify Chinese entrepreneurship pioneers aged 40 and under. This year's listees were all born after September 1, 1985, meaning they will be aged 40 or under as of September 1, 2026. Candidates are core figures of their companiesfounders, co-founders, or business elitesand possess a certain degree of social influence. Many regard the list as an important reference for observing structural changes in China's new generation of entrepreneurial forces. The five most concentrated sub-sectors among this year's first-generation entrepreneurs are, in order: Siasun Robot&Automation and embodied intelligence (13%), enterprise software and digital services (8%), AI large models and agents (5%), cell and gene therapy and innovative drugs (5%), and intelligent driving and steer-by-wire chassis (4%). The threshold for first-generation entrepreneurs to make the list is a company value of more than US$100 million, with the average value of first-generation entrepreneurial companies at RMB17 billion. The top three industries involving second-generation successors are industrial equipment (16%), chemicals (14%), and life and health (10%). As a recipient of the Hurun U40 China Entrepreneurship Pioneers honor, Shen Peng joined Meituan's founding team in 2010 as its 10th employee and participated in co-founding Meituan Waimai in 2013. In 2016, he founded Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A, driving its growth into a leading insurance technology and healthcare platform in China. Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A adheres to technology-driven upgrading of inclusive health protection and to an "AI-native" development strategy, investing nearly RMB300 million annually in technology research and development. To date, Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A has applied for nearly 200 artificial intelligence patents, including more than 100 large-model-related patent applications. Through its self-developed "Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A Shuishou large model" and the systematic deployment of innovative applications such as China's first AI underwriting expert "KEYI.AI," the AI intelligent customer service "Bao Xiaohui," and AI intelligent quality inspection, Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A has achieved significant improvements in service efficiency and user experience. Recently, Beijing Shuishou Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A, was successfully selected for the "3rd China AI Technology Enterprises TOP50AI Emerging Enterprises" on the strength of its deep AI deployment capabilities in the insurance and healthcare vertical tracks. In terms of internationalization, Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A has established a "dual headquarters" development model in Beijing and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, using Hong Kong as a node to connect global markets and leveraging the Greater Bay Area to reach Southeast Asia. In September this year, Shen Peng was appointed as a visiting professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and delivered a speech titled "Technology Empowering Inclusive Protection: A Review of Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A's Ten Years of Social Enterprise Exploration." In his speech, he summarized Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A's path as an extension of technology inclusiveness from major illness fundraising to insurance protection and pharmaceutical innovation. Shen Peng's repeated selection for the Hurun U40 China Entrepreneurship Pioneers list is both recognition of his personal innovation and leadership and a reflection of the growing recognition of Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A's value contribution in the field of inclusive protection. After ten years of development, Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A has formed a business system integrating major illness fundraising, insurance protection, and pharmaceutical services, accumulating real, high-frequency, and in-depth protection scenarios. With real protection needs as the scenario foundation, AI-native capabilities as efficiency support, and international expansion as growth space, Waterdrop, Inc. ADR Class A's innovative model in the field of inclusive protection provides a good reference sample for the industry.