ALMAD Group: How Adrian Cheng is Building Business Infrastructure for Gen Alpha and Gen Z

Cultural entrepreneur leverages proven investment track record to create comprehensive platform targeting next-generation expectations. 

The most successful businesses of the next two decades won’t be those that adapt existing models to serve younger audiences—they’ll be the ones built from the ground up to match how Gen Alpha and Gen Z fundamentally approach culture, commerce, and technology integration. Adrian Cheng’s launch of ALMAD Group on September 21, 2025, represents a systematic attempt to create this future-focused business infrastructure before it becomes an urgent necessity.

“Our mission is clear: to build what the next generation needs and to shape a future economy filled with possibilities,” Adrian Cheng announced, positioning ALMAD Group not as another investment vehicle, but as comprehensive preparation for an economy increasingly defined by generational expectations that differ fundamentally from previous business assumptions.

Unlike traditional investment approaches that focus on geographic expansion or operational efficiency improvements, ALMAD Group’s strategy acknowledges that Gen Alpha and Gen Z approach business decisions through entirely different frameworks—ones that prioritize authentic cultural connection, seamless technology integration, and experiences that reflect sophisticated values and aspirations that previous demographics developed much later in their consumer journeys.

Investment Philosophy Proven Through Digital-Native Success Stories 

Cheng’s confidence in building modern business infrastructure stems from demonstrated success in identifying platforms that capture behavioral shifts before they become mainstream investment opportunities. His early-stage backing of Xiaohongshu exemplifies this prescient approach to recognizing companies that don’t just serve existing markets more efficiently, but create entirely new categories of cultural and commercial value.

Xiaohongshu’s evolution from social sharing platform to essential lifestyle commerce infrastructure validates Cheng’s core investment thesis: that authentic cultural engagement combined with commercial innovation creates value in ways that traditional business models struggle to understand or replicate. For Gen Alpha and Gen Z users, the platform represents not just a shopping tool, but essential infrastructure for making lifestyle decisions based on authentic cultural connection and peer recommendation.

The success of this investment, alongside backing companies like XPeng Motors and Micro Connect, established Cheng’s credibility in spotting businesses that serve generational expectations rather than simply offering improved versions of existing solutions. Each of these investments demonstrates understanding that younger demographics don’t want better products—they want fundamentally different approaches to how business, culture, and technology should integrate.

Three Strategic Directions: Comprehensive Future-Focused Approach 

ALMAD Group operates through three interconnected strategic directions, each designed to capture different aspects of how Gen Alpha and Gen Z will shape business and cultural landscapes over the next twenty years.

The first direction focuses on transformative industries across emerging markets including Mainland China, ASEAN countries, and the Middle East. These investments span culture, entertainment, sports, media, healthcare, commercial management, and cultural tourism—industries selected not just for current commercial viability, but for their potential to serve market needs of Gen Alpha and Gen Z in ways that reflect their sophisticated expectations for cultural authenticity and technological integration.

“These targeted industries not only demonstrate strong commercial viability today, but possess potential to shape the global economy and society in the next twenty years, capable of serving market needs of Gen Z and Millennials ahead,” according to ALMAD Group’s framework, though the focus extends to even younger demographics who will drive business decisions throughout these industries’ development.

The second strategic direction positions ALMAD Group at the forefront of Web3 financial innovation, with planned exploration of digital currency, real-world asset tokenization, and blockchain applications across industries. This digital assets focus acknowledges that for Gen Alpha and Gen Z, technological integration isn’t an enhancement to traditional business models—it’s a fundamental expectation for how modern business should operate.

For these demographics, who have grown up with digital-first expectations and sophisticated understanding of how virtual and physical experiences should connect, meaningful Web3 innovation represents not futuristic experimentation but essential infrastructure for business models that match their worldview.

K11 by AC: Cultural Ecosystem Innovation at Scale 

The third strategic direction—globalizing the K11 by AC cultural ecosystem—represents perhaps the most distinctive aspect of ALMAD Group’s approach to serving next-generation expectations. This initiative expands Cheng’s pioneering work in cultural commerce into a comprehensive platform that manages retail assets and cultural districts for diverse landlords worldwide.

K11 by AC’s core differentiation lies in its sophisticated approach to cultural content, brand experience co-creation, and commercial management, specifically targeting younger and more affluent demographics who make purchasing decisions based on authentic cultural connection rather than traditional luxury positioning or marketing approaches.

The platform’s expansion includes Experience 11, the rapidly growing Anime IP business targeting Mainland China and the Middle East markets. By curating experiences with leading Anime IPs from around the world and leveraging its global art network, this segment captures the fast-expanding ACGN and “two-dimensions” industries that resonate particularly strongly with Gen Alpha and Gen Z audiences who view these cultural forms as essential rather than niche entertainment.

Complementing this programming approach, K11 by AC is scaling its Gentry Club business—a high-privacy luxury city club concept designed for cultural enthusiasts who appreciate artisanal lifestyle experiences. This expansion demonstrates understanding that affluent younger consumers don’t just seek exclusivity, but culturally-informed experiences that reflect their sophisticated tastes and values while providing genuine cultural education and connection.

Emerging Markets Strategy: Positioning for Demographic Advantage 

ALMAD Group’s focus on emerging markets including ASEAN countries and the Middle East reflects strategic understanding that many of the most significant economic opportunities over the next twenty years will emerge from regions where Gen Alpha and Gen Z represent larger portions of the population and where traditional business infrastructure is less entrenched.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, ALMAD Group leverages the city’s unique position as an international financial hub with deep cultural connections across Asia. This geographic positioning enables operation across multiple regulatory frameworks and market dynamics while maintaining operational flexibility that characterizes Hong Kong’s business environment.

“We firmly believe that Hong Kong is a resilient community with a global outlook, widely recognized as a bridge to the world,” Cheng stated, positioning ALMAD Group to capitalize on the city’s role as connector between Eastern and Western markets, cultural traditions, and investment opportunities—particularly relevant for serving Gen Alpha and Gen Z audiences who expect seamless global cultural integration.

Building Movement Infrastructure for Systematic Change 

What distinguishes ALMAD Group from traditional investment platforms is its explicit recognition that serving Gen Alpha and Gen Z effectively requires building new business infrastructure rather than adapting existing models. The group’s “movement” positioning acknowledges that meaningful change requires coordinated innovation across multiple industries and geographic markets simultaneously.

This comprehensive approach reflects Cheng’s understanding, gained through over fifteen years of cultural commerce innovation, that business transformation happens not through incremental improvements, but through systematic rethinking of how culture, commerce, and technology should integrate to create authentic value for sophisticated younger audiences.

The group’s focus on transformative industries acknowledges that Gen Alpha and Gen Z don’t want improved versions of previous solutions—they expect entirely different approaches that match their understanding of how authentic cultural experiences, technological integration, and commercial innovation should work together seamlessly.

From Cultural Commerce Pioneer to Comprehensive Platform 

ALMAD Group represents the natural evolution of insights Cheng gained through pioneering the integration of cultural programming with commercial experiences. Having demonstrated that culture and commerce could be systematically combined to create new forms of value, he now applies that integration philosophy to the broader challenge of building business models that serve next-generation expectations across multiple industries and markets.

“From ideation two years ago, we have been determined to build ALMAD Group as a movement propelling this shift, investing in transformative industries in emerging markets such as ASEAN and the Middle East, while advancing globally in digital assets and cultural industries,” Cheng explained, positioning the group as proactive preparation for economic changes rather than reactive adaptation.

The group’s approach acknowledges that Gen Alpha and Gen Z approach business, culture, and technology as integrated systems rather than separate domains. This generational shift requires business infrastructure that matches their sophisticated expectations for how these elements should work together to create authentic value and meaningful experiences.

Operational Implementation and Future Development 

“As ALMAD Group’s movement evolves, I look forward to unveiling more projects in the near future, showcasing the group’s commitment to transforming vision to action,” Cheng concluded, suggesting that the initial announcement represents just the beginning of a more comprehensive transformation initiative.

The success of this ambitious undertaking will depend on whether ALMAD Group can effectively navigate the complexities of multiple markets, technologies, and cultural contexts while maintaining the authentic cultural connection that has characterized Cheng’s most successful innovations.

For Gen Alpha and Gen Z audiences who have grown up with expectations for sophisticated cultural programming, seamless technology integration, and authentic brand experiences, ALMAD Group’s comprehensive approach offers infrastructure built specifically for their worldview rather than adapted from previous generational assumptions.

As these demographics increasingly drive business decisions across industries and geographic markets, ALMAD Group’s systematic preparation for their expectations positions it to capture opportunities that traditional investment approaches might overlook or undervalue. The group’s early projects will serve as important indicators of how effectively next-generation business infrastructure can be scaled to serve the sophisticated demands of audiences who expect business, culture, and technology to work together as integrated systems rather than separate domains.

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