Recently, the integrated circuit industry has ushered in a major capital injection. Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Funds has not only completed the first round of fundraising target of more than 500 million yuan, but has also been officially established. In addition, Fudan University has launched a 1 billion yuan science and technology innovation investment fund, focusing on investment in key technology areas such as integrated circuits and artificial intelligence. At the same time, the size of the GBA fund has increased to nearly RMB10 billion, which includes the participation of national capital to promote the development of the integrated circuit industry. In Qingdao, the integrated circuit industry has also received 500 million yuan of new investment, and since Qingdao became a national AIC equity investment pilot city, it has received a total of 6 funds, with a total investment scale of 14 billion yuan.
1. Fudan University leads a new wave of science and technology investment: capital injection and strategic cooperation in the field of integrated circuits and cutting-edge technology
On December 3, Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund announced that it had exceeded the initial fundraising target of 500 million yuan and was officially established. The fund plans to achieve the second phase of fundraising next year, bringing the total size of the first phase to 1 billion yuan. Launched on December 3 last year by Fudan University, local governments, state-owned enterprises and market-oriented institutions, the Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund mainly focuses on the field of "hard technology", including strategic frontier innovation fields such as life and health, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, new energy and new materials. The fund aims to guide the sub-fund to become "patient capital" and "long-term capital", invest in high-growth projects, and build an "ecosystem" for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
On the same day, the Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Investment Fund was also officially launched, with a planned scale of 1 billion yuan, which is a direct investment project fund, unlike the parent fund. The fund will focus on life and health, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, new materials/new energy and future industries, focus on investing in national "bottleneck" technological breakthroughs and transformation projects in cutting-edge fields of science and technology, and give priority to supporting Fudan University's scientific and technological achievements industrialization projects and alumni innovation and entrepreneurship projects, so as to create a nuclear explosion point of innovation.
In addition, the signing ceremony of the comprehensive strategic cooperation between Fudan University, Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd. and the National Green Development Fund, as well as the signing ceremony of the strategic partner of the Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund and the signing ceremony of the district-school science and technology innovation cooperation project were also officially held. The Fudan Science and Technology Achievement Transformation and Entrepreneurship Empowerment Project (F-LAB Project) has also been launched, which aims to strengthen the deep integration of original and disruptive scientific research with technology and industrial application, and focus on discovering high-potential talents and high-quality projects among Fudan scientists and alumni. At the same time, the "Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Competition 2024" has also been launched, focusing on the fields of biomedicine, artificial intelligence, high-end equipment, integrated circuits, new materials and new energy, digital economy and cultural creativity, and setting up two tracks: entrepreneurship group and creative group. The Fudan-Tongji-Shanghai University Science and Technology Innovation Alliance has also been launched, aiming to give full play to the advantages of talents, scientific research and industrialization of the three universities, provide a broader platform for teachers, students and alumni to exchange science and technology, promote the high-quality transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and create a first-class science and technology innovation ecosystem.
In the future, Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Funds will continue to carry out high-level FOF investment, focusing on cooperating with a number of leading enterprises and investment institutions with innovation and transformation capabilities, building a high-level science and technology innovation ecosystem around the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and drawing a high-precision Fudan science and technology innovation map, discovering and cultivating science and technology enterprises and science and technology entrepreneurs with world influence, and creating a united front for the transformation of Fudan's scientific and technological achievements. According to incomplete statistics, the integrated circuit industry science and technology innovation enterprises led by alumni and scientists of Fudan University have widely penetrated all key links of the industrial chain, including upstream EDA software, material/equipment enterprises, midstream manufacturing, design and packaging and testing enterprises, and midstream and downstream industrial chain enterprises.
2. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund has received a heavy capital increase to accelerate the investment layout of the electronic information industry
According to the latest news from Xinhua News Agency, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Industry Investment Fund (hereinafter referred to as the "Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund") has recently received support from a number of important partners, especially in the field of electronic information investment and mergers and acquisitions.
The Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund has added China Electronics Information Industry Group, Guangzhou Science and Technology Financial Innovation Investment Holding Company, and Xi'an Industrial Multiplication Fund as partners, and the fund's capital contribution has reached 9.866 billion yuan. As a new cornerstone investor, China Electronics Group is a national team directly managed by the central government with the Internet information industry as its main business, focusing on key businesses such as computing industry, integrated circuits, network security, data applications, and high-tech electronics, and has been selected by Fortune Global 500 for 14 consecutive years. The GBA Science and Technology Innovation Fund was officially established in November 2021 with a total target scale of RMB100 billion and an initial scale of RMB20 billion, with the main investment direction being the core areas of scientific and technological innovation such as next-generation information technology, key technologies for carbon neutrality and biomedicine. The fund is managed by Zhongwan Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd., whose major shareholders include the China Reform Foundation and China Electronics Information Industry Group. In October last year, Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Zhiqiyuan Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., and Hefei High-quality Development Guidance Fund Co., Ltd. were added as shareholders of the Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund, and the capital contribution increased from 7.059 billion yuan to 9.004 billion yuan. Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd. is wholly owned by the Beijing Municipal People's Government; Hefei High-quality Development Guidance Fund Co., Ltd. is wholly owned by Hefei Finance Bureau. Subsequently, the limited partners (LPs) of the Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund also include BYD, Sequoia China and Tianfeng Securities.
According to public information, the GBA Science and Technology Innovation Fund is the only strategic investment fund approved to focus on key areas of scientific and technological innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Under the current capital winter, the Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund is close to completing the fundraising of 10 billion yuan, which has greatly boosted the confidence of the primary market. Up to now, the GBA Science and Technology Innovation Fund has invested in a number of sub-funds and a number of sub-projects. For example, Hefei Zhongwan Heying Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) was recently established with a capital contribution of RMB 200 million, jointly funded by Zhongwan (Zhuhai) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Industry Investment Fund (Limited Partnership). In addition, Xi'an Zhongwan Science and Technology Innovation Industry Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) has also been established, with a capital contribution of 802 million yuan, which is jointly funded by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Industry Investment Fund (Limited Partnership), Xi'an Industrial Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. and Zhongwan Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd. Previously, the Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Fund also invested in 3 sub-funds, including UHD Video Industry Investment Fund (Guangzhou) Partnership (Limited Partnership), Zhongwan Hezhi (Hefei) Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Zhongwan Chuangxin (Tianjin) Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), all of which are managed by Zhongwan Private Equity. At the same time, the GBA Science and Technology Innovation Fund has also directly invested in three projects, including the third-generation semiconductor company Ivor Guangtong, the digital transformation service provider Jinxin Digital Technology, and the hydrogen fuel cell membrane electrode manufacturer Hongji Chuangneng.
3. Qingdao Free Trade Zone has joined hands with investment institutions to set up a fund of 500 million yuan to help the development of emerging industries such as integrated circuits
The Management Committee of Qingdao Free Trade Zone recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Qingdao Haifa Industrial Investment Holding Co., Ltd. and Qianhai Ark (Qingdao) Venture Capital Fund Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) to jointly establish a special account fund with a total scale of 500 million yuan in Qingdao, focusing on investing in emerging industries such as integrated circuits. The Financial Assets Investment Corporation (AIC) is a non-bank financial institution whose main business is bank debt-to-equity swap and supporting business. Since the establishment of AIC in 2017, the total registered capital of China's five major state-owned banks has exceeded 100 billion yuan. Qingdao has recently been included in the national AIC equity investment pilot city, attracting the rapid landing of the "Big Five" AIC equity investment funds, mainly investing in strategic emerging industries such as integrated circuits, new generation information technology, new energy, and artificial intelligence. On October 12, ABC Investment launched its first AIC equity investment fund in Qingdao, marking the official landing of the national pilot project in Qingdao. Subsequently, ICBC Investment, Bank of China Assets, CCB Investment, and Bank of Communications Investment successively set up AIC equity investment funds in Qingdao, with a total scale of 14 billion yuan for six funds. On October 24, ICBC Investment signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Qingdao Caitong Group, Qingdao Urban Investment, Qingdao Free Trade Zone Management Committee, Qingdao Metro Group, and Qingdao Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to jointly establish Qingdao Integrated Circuit Industry Fund, with a total scale of 3 billion yuan, and an initial investment of 1 billion yuan, mainly investing in the field of integrated circuits.
Qingdao Integrated Circuit Industrial Park was inaugurated in Qingdao Free Trade Zone in November 2022, with a planned area of more than 13,000 mu. The industrial park has attracted more than 20 billion yuan of funds, of which more than 14 billion yuan will be newly established this year. Qingdao focuses on the chip industry for the support of AIC equity investment funds, and the AIC funds set up by ABC Investment and Bank of China Asset Management in Qingdao focus on investing in the new generation of information technology industry and integrated circuit industry. Qingdao Integrated Circuit Industrial Park has recently received another 100 million yuan of financial support for the construction of a municipal-level emerging industry professional park, which will further accelerate the infrastructure construction of the industrial park, improve the municipal supporting support capacity, and inject vitality into the high-quality development of the park. In recent years, the integrated circuit industry has become an important pole in the development of Qingdao's emerging industries, and has initially formed a coordinated development pattern of "one core and four poles", covering the whole industrial chain of design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, materials, equipment, etc.
A number of integrated circuit projects in Qingdao ushered in new progress:
- Qingdao Pingxin CMP polishing material R&D and production base was put into operation, mainly providing overall solutions for CMP materials and parts;
- Qingdao Integrated Circuit Advanced Equipment Park and Sirui Intelligent Semiconductor Advanced Equipment R&D and Manufacturing Center project was capped;
- The first phase of the Zhizhen memory chip project started, and 8-inch and 12-inch new-generation memory chip production lines and R&D centers will be built;
- The first phase of the Wuyuan semiconductor project was capped, focusing on the development of advanced packaging technology platforms;
- Kexin Microelectronics Chip Design Headquarters Project was launched, mainly building a power semiconductor product R&D center and testing center;
- The R&D and production base project of Hefei Beslan Wet Equipment Headquarters was launched, mainly producing wet processing pumps and pump parts;
- Foxconn invested 100 million yuan to build a high-end packaging and testing project for Qingdao new core to meet the packaging and testing needs of high-end application chips such as 5G and AI.
