“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, May 10 (Reporter Chen Mei) Recently, Beiyi Semiconductor completed a B+ round of financing of 150 million yuan, and its (silicon carbide) MOSFET sector has also received capital attention.

According to data from the Financial Association Venture Capital Connect, with the keyword “third-generation semiconductor material silicon carbide”, relevant institutions have conducted more than 100 surveys. Among them, the increase in the penetration rate and scale of “SiC” in the electric vehicle field, and the related product structure and market share are the focus of the agency's attention.

In this context, MOSFETs are one of the important products in the SiC (silicon carbide) field, and they also “absorb gold” in the primary market.

From a small border town, the founder worked at Samsung in South Korea for 21 years

Beiyi Semiconductor was founded in 2020. Unlike other semiconductor companies that have taken root in the Yangtze River Delta, Beiyi Semiconductor comes from the small border town of Muleng, which belongs to Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, according to data from the Financial Federation.

Kim Myung-yeong, the founder of Kitaichi Semiconductor, is a typical homecoming entrepreneur. Kim Myung, who has lived in Mulyeong since childhood, got a job at Samsung in South Korea very early. Over a period of 21 years, Golden Star has accumulated a large amount of experience in chip technology, process flow, management models, etc., so in 2017, Golden Star finally chose to start a business, chose the R&D base in Shenzhen, and settled the production base in Muleng.

Perhaps this is the reason why the R&D base was located in Shenzhen. In the front round of financing, Beiyi Semiconductor received attention from Cornerstone Capital, Jinding Capital, CICC Capital, and Unicom CICC, and completed Series B financing of more than 150 million yuan. This round of financing plans to accelerate the company's production line expansion, product development, team expansion, and market expansion.

Of the 150 million yuan B+ round of financing, Shanghai Wutong Private Equity led the investment of 100 million yuan. This is a private equity fund established in 2007, and the lead investment amount is already in place. Compared with the previous round of financing, the B+ round of financing is mainly used for silicon carbide Mosfet technology research and development, as well as production line upgrades and expansion.

The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter noticed that both rounds of financing were related to “production line expansion”. Technically, Beiyi Semiconductor also moved from IGBT modules to silicon carbide MOSFETs.

An investor in the new energy sector told the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter, “Compared with IGBTs, silicon carbide Mosfets have the characteristics of faster switching speed, lower conduction loss, and lower switching loss, which makes silicon carbide Mosfets more efficient in high-frequency applications. But in terms of price, high-performance SiC MOSFETs are also more expensive than IGBTs.”

“In terms of application, high-performance silicon carbide MOSFETs have now gradually replaced IGBTs; IGBTs in the province need to improve device structure and process through technological advancements and improve performance to meet changes in demand.”

In the first quarter of this year, Xinlian Integration (688469), which is held by the three major QFII companies, said that the silicon carbide business will have a greater impact on the company's revenue. In 2023, the business has contributed more than 300 million yuan in revenue. As of February this year, silicon carbide mosfets have been used in batches in the main drive inverters of new energy vehicles. The revenue of the silicon carbide business is expected to exceed 1 billion yuan in 2024, which is expected to reach 30% of the global market share.

Tesla has announced a 75% reduction in silicon carbide usage per vehicle

According to data from the Financial Services Association Venture Capital Connect - China, using silicon carbide as a label, there have been 17 financings since this year, and the number of financing incidents on this track reached 70 last year. Among them, there are hundreds of millions of yuan of pre-B financing for pure semiconductors; hundreds of millions of yuan of Series C financing for Supercore Star; 1.5 billion yuan of Series F financing for Tongguang Co., Ltd.... In terms of investment institutions, Shenzhen Venture Capital, Yida Capital, Jianxin Investment, Chen Dao Capital, and Yuanhe Origin have all come to an end.

In these financings, high-quality “silicon carbide” substrates became the key word. The investors mentioned above mentioned that the price of silicon carbide Mosfets is relatively high. The reason behind this is that silicon carbide, a third-generation semiconductor material, has not yet been obtained in large quantities.

The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter learned that currently, the price of a 6-inch silicon carbide wafer is over 1,000 US dollars, which is more than 20 times the price of a silicon wafer of the same size. “The reason for this price is due to the slow growth rate of silicon carbide crystals and the high requirements for temperature and pressure control during the production process, leading to high production costs. At the same time, the production process is complex, including synthesis of high-purity toner and silicon powder, crystal growth, crystal rod cutting, grinding, polishing, etc.” According to the investors mentioned above.

In addition to 6-inch SiC wafers, the development of 8-inch SiC wafers is already an industry trend. Compared with the former, an 8-inch substrate can reduce the overall cost per unit by about 50%. However, in terms of production, only a few companies can mass produce on a large scale.

Among domestic companies, Shuoke Crystal, Jingsheng Electromechanical (300316), Tianyue Advanced (688234), Xinlian Integrated (688469), Qinghe Jingyuan, and Tianke Heda are in the process of sample delivery and small-batch production. Among them, the two listed companies Tianyue Advanced (688234) and Xinlian Integrated (688469) had market capitalization of 24 billion yuan and 32.5 billion yuan respectively.

The investors mentioned above told the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter that it is widely believed in the industry that 2024 will be a year where silicon carbide devices will be used extensively in automotive inverters for new energy vehicles. “New forces such as Ideal, Xiaomi, and NIO are all working hard on silicon carbide. Although Tesla announced that every car will reduce the use of silicon carbide chips by 75%, as market demand expands, Chinese silicon carbide manufacturers still hope to overtake curves through technology.”

Returning to Beiyi Semiconductor's financing, at the time of B financing, the company said that silicon carbide module research has made positive progress; the new round of B+ financing will increase research and development to promote the industrialization process by improving the performance indicators and production efficiency of silicon carbide Mosfets.

The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter noticed that Beiyi Semiconductor's original IGBT business is still the first choice in many applications due to its high technical maturity and low cost. According to information, IGBT module products launched by Beiyi Semiconductor have been used in batches among leading NEV companies, leading customers in the fields of photovoltaic energy storage, inverter appliances, and industrial control.