“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, April 15 (Reporter Yu Shiqi) The second phase of the Big Fund has launched.

Recently, Hubei Jiutongfang Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jiutongfang”) underwent a commercial change and added the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Big Fund Phase II”) as a shareholder. As soon as the second phase of the Big Fund was launched, it became the sixth largest shareholder, accounting for 7.781% of the shares.

Established in 2011, Jiutongfang Microelectronics is an EDA (Electronic Design Automation) company focusing on IC design services. It is worth noting that Hubble Investment is currently the largest shareholder of Jiutongfang Microelectronics, and this is also its first investment company in the EDA field.

The second phase of the Big Fund was launched

EDA has the title of “mother of chips”. It is a tool software for chip design. It is upstream in the chip industry chain and determines the competitiveness of the integrated circuit industry. Previously, the three major overseas EDA companies (Synopsys, Cadence, and Mentor Graphics) dominated the global market.

A chip industry practitioner told the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter that under normal circumstances, a single EDA tool takes at least 5 years from development to use. The initial performance is still difficult to compare with mature overseas products. It requires continuous refinement and iteration with downstream manufacturers, and continuous investment is rare during this period. Currently, there are not many domestic EDA companies that can provide the full process of digital implementation, digital verification, and package design in China.

Jiutongfang Microelectronics was founded in 2011 by Wan Bo, a doctor studying in the US who studied at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The goal is to make China's own EDA software, targeting the most critical field of RF chips in wireless communication.

Chip practitioners said above that RF chips have a wide range of applications and large market space. From satellite communications to mobile terminals, RF chips are needed. Furthermore, there are many RF chip design companies in the Optics Valley area of Wuhan, where Jiutongfang Microelectronics is located, and the upstream and downstream industrial chains are rich in resources.

However, after its establishment, Jiutongfang Microelectronics rarely disclosed its business progress to the outside world. Its executive director Li Hong once said, “It took ten years to sit on the cold bench before we ushered in spring.” The spring he mentioned was probably 2021 when Jiutong Fang released RF EDA software to fill the gap in domestic production.

Also around this point, Jiutong began the process of external financing. First, in August 2020, it completed angel round financing for Gimpo Investment and Xinchao Group under the Shanghai International Group.

Four months later, Hubble Investments, along with Shenzhen Venture Capital, Mingshi Capital, and Yunqi Capital, carried out Series A capital injection into it. This is the first time Hubble Investments has publicly invested in an EDA company.

At the end of 2022, Hubble Investment once again invested in Jiutongfang Microelectronics. Joint investors include Changjiang Industrial Fund and Huarong Yuexin Fund. After two rounds of funding, Hubble Investments has become the largest shareholder of Jiutongfang Microelectronics, with a shareholding ratio of 11.1157%.

After this financing, Jiutong Fang had no new financing developments in 2023. However, it claims that the company has achieved a “single point of peak” in chip-level electromagnetic field simulation, and related tools have reached world-class levels in terms of simulation accuracy and efficiency. Based on all 9 tools of the leading RF EDA tool chain in the industry, 6 mature products have now been launched, and 3 more are under development. It is expected that a complete RF tool chain will be achieved by 2025.

This year, the second phase of Big Fund's popularity also reflected its technological accumulation from the side. According to public information, up to now, there have been only two cases of Big Fund's second phase foreign investment in the primary market this year. One is that it participated in the C+ round of financing for C+ by Niuxin Semiconductor in February, and the other example is Jiutong. Niuxin Semiconductor focuses on the development and licensing of interface IP, strives to become the world's leading IP supplier, and is upstream of the integrated circuit industry chain like Jiutong.

Investors in the semiconductor sector said that the second phase of the Big Fund is strengthening the upstream layout of the integrated circuit industry chain, and its investment direction has also become more diversified, covering various fields such as wafer manufacturing, integrated circuit design tools, chip design, packaging testing, equipment, materials, and applications.

Currently, the registered capital of the second phase of the Big Fund is 204.15 billion yuan. Since its establishment, it has successively invested 64 companies in the semiconductor primary market, with a cumulative investment amount exceeding 60 billion yuan. It has invested in 24 listed companies, including China Micro, Beifang Huachuang, and SMIC.