Focusing on the power semiconductor IPM track, "Zhongwei Chuangxin" has completed a nearly 100 million yuan Pre-B round of financing | 36Kr exclusive.

Author | Lin Qingqing

Editor | Yuan Silai

36Kr has learned that "Zhongwei Chuangxin", a power semiconductor device R & D manufacturer, has recently completed the Pre-B round of financing, with an amount of nearly 100 million yuan. This round of financing is led by Qingdao Guoxin, with Yuancheng Duoying Investment and Yunhui Shunhe Fund participating. This round of financing will mainly be used for product research and development, market expansion, and supplementing working capital. The previous round A investors include Junshi Investment, Qingdao Gaochuang, Nanxi Venture Capital, and Zhongke Hengyi, etc.

"Zhongwei Chuangxin" was established in 2016, focusing on the development of new power semiconductor devices. The company's core businesses include the technical development of chip products such as IGBT and SiC, especially the design, manufacturing, and sales of high-end intelligent power modules (IPM). The company's products are widely used in new energy (electric vehicles, photovoltaic and energy storage), servo motors, humanoid robots, frequency conversion home appliances and other fields.

Power semiconductor devices are an indispensable part of electronic equipment. Their main task is to regulate and control the current to ensure that the equipment can operate efficiently and safely. These devices are applied in various fields from smartphones, electric vehicles to industrial machinery. It can be said that they are the basis for the precise operation of modern electronic equipment.

The global power semiconductor market is growing rapidly. According to the report of Yole, the market size is expected to reach 22 billion US dollars in 2024. Among them, the growth of the Chinese market is particularly significant, and the market size is expected to exceed 20 billion US dollars, mainly due to the rapid development of new energy vehicles, 5G base stations and industrial automation.

And, the intelligent power module (IPM) that "Zhongwei Chuangxin" focuses on researching and developing is a high-end form in power semiconductor devices. By integrating key power devices and protection control circuits, it provides a more efficient and compact solution. The characteristics of IPM are high integration, intelligence and strong reliability.

In the field of home appliances, IPM enables products such as air conditioners and refrigerators to achieve precise motor control and improve energy efficiency. For example, IPM can precisely adjust the rotational speed of the air conditioner compressor to achieve more fine temperature control, thereby saving energy; in the industrial field, IPM is used to control the start, stop and speed of the motor, improving the efficiency and flexibility of the production line. Their application in new energy vehicles is also crucial. IPM manages the battery energy distribution and the motor power output in it, directly affecting the performance and endurance of the vehicle. In the future, due to the dual requirements of energy saving and integration of humanoid robots, it will also generate a large demand for intelligent power modules.

For a long time, the domestic power semiconductor market has relied heavily on imported products, and the domestic production ratio is low. This is mainly because there is a gap between domestic products and international leading enterprises in terms of performance, reliability and production stability. In addition, the restrictions of foreign suppliers on the domestic market have also exacerbated the instability of the supply. Kong Liang, the chairman of "Zhongwei Chuangxin", pointed out that since 2018, the domestic power semiconductor products have been in a state of short supply, especially in the field of intelligent power modules, the proportion of domestic substitution is only 20%, even lower than the domestic production ratio of IGBT.

From the perspective of specific products, the main products of "Zhongwei Chuangxin" include chip products such as IGBT and SiC, as well as high-end intelligent power modules (IPM). The company's IGBT modules and IPM modules are optimized for the new energy and frequency conversion home appliance fields, and for the low-power industrial field, "Zhongwei Chuangxin" has developed products based on the sixth-generation chip structure.

In terms of technical routes, "Zhongwei Chuangxin" adopts self-developed wafer technology and has the full-process technical reserves from chip design to packaging and testing. The company's product technical route is based on self-developed chips. Kong Liang emphasizes that especially the power chips have achieved a technical level equivalent to Infineon's seventh-generation chips, with lower product loss and heat generation, and can realize a larger power IPM module product.

In terms of production capacity and expansion plans, "Zhongwei Chuangxin" has its own factory buildings and land in the Qingdao Sino-German Ecological Industrial Park, combining the mode of external cooperation and its own production line to ensure the adaptability of production capacity and the quality control of products. The first-phase production capacity of this production base is 15 million pieces, and there is room for expansion to respond to market demand.

A Glimpse of "Zhongwei Chuangxin" Production Line

For the future market, Kong Liang is optimistic. He believes that domestic power semiconductors will gradually occupy the market in high-end application fields, such as electric vehicles and photovoltaic power generation. At the same time, he also sees the development trend of integration and intelligence of power semiconductors, as well as the potential of the combination of AI and artificial intelligence with power semiconductors. In terms of market acceptance, Kong Liang mentioned that in recent years, the acceptance of domestic power semiconductor products by domestic customers has significantly improved.

In terms of the team, Kong Liang, the chairman of "Zhongwei Chuangxin", comes from the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with many years of experience in power semiconductor module design and packaging and testing, and has participated in the formulation of a number of industry standards. The core team members of the company are all from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and well-known companies in the industry, with more than 10 years of industry experience, covering multiple fields such as power semiconductor device packaging, application research and development, IGBT and SiC technology.

Investor Views:

The lead investor in this round, Qingdao Guoxin, said that Zhongwei Chuangxin has shown a strong technological innovation ability and market competitiveness in the field of power semiconductors, and we are full of confidence in its future development.

Yuancheng Investment and Yunhui Shunhe also highly evaluated the company's technological innovation and market performance, believing that the company will fully benefit from the localization process of power semiconductors, especially in intelligent power modules.