Chinese auto chip maker SemiDrive has just reported closing RMB 1 billion or about $140 million in a Series B+ financing round led by SAIC and CITIC Securities, as per CnEVPost.
Where would the fund go?
The company stated on its WeChat account that the fund is intended to upgrade its automotive chip offerings and core technologies.
Notably, it will be utilized to boost the company’s service capabilities and speed up the deployment of its products in electric vehicles.
About SemiDrive
SemiDrive is a Chinese chip manufacturer located in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Shenzhen, and Dalian. It was established in 2018 with the goal of manufacturing “highly reliable, high-performance automotive chips.”
The company claims that its R&D investments contribute over 50% of its overall expenditure. It is also worth mentioning that 80% of its workers work in this department.
SemiDrive’s products
SemiDrive offers the following product series: high-performance MCU E3, intelligent cockpit chip X9, intelligent driving chip V9, and central gateway chip G9.
Essentially, all four chips are being produced in large quantities. The company claims that it produces one million units a year.
It is also worth noting that SemiDrive’s products already service 90% of local car firms. Remarkably, it has over 260 clients and greater than 100 orders for mass production contracts.
Achievements
In May 2020, the company closed an RMB 500 million Series A investment and released the X9, V9, and G9 automotive chips.
The company also launched UniDrive in July of last year. As per the report, it is an autonomous technology based on V9 series chips.
Apart from these, it closed an RMB 1 billion Series B financing on July 26, 2021. As of now, it has successfully closed seven funding rounds.
SemiDrive does not stop there, as the V9S autonomous driving chip with increased arithmetic power is set to reach the markets in 2023. With a 500–1000T arithmetic power, the V9S would be designed for the central computing platform architecture. Remarkably, it would be capable of running the L4 and L5 robotaxi.
