On January 12, 2022, Eigencomm officially announced the completion of a RMB 1 billion Series C financing round. The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund II, followed by Cathay Capital, Costone Capital, GF Qianhe and Qombe Capital, and continued follow-on investment from old shareholders Qiming Venture Partners, Fiberhome Capital, China Fellow Partners, Xingwang Investment and CUAM continue to follow. The funds received from this round of financing will be used for Eigencomm's continued research and development and continuous innovation of future global 5G communication chips.
As early as November 2020, V Fund discovered Eigencomm and became one of the investors in its Series B financing. It actively connects it with relevant industrial resources and customer partners, provides support and assistance in many aspects such as actual operation and production and overall strategic planning of the company, and deeply empowers Eigencomm to help it develop comprehensively.
Eigencomm
Eigencomm is the world's leading cellular mobile communications chip designer, dedicated to designing the best performance and most cost-effective cellular IoT chips. Eigencomm's first product, the NB-IoT series chip, was introduced just one year ago and achieved the first place in new market orders, with a single monthly sales order of more than 4 million pieces in 2021, and the product was quickly recognized by domestic and international customers. The world's largest module manufacturers are known to be in China, and almost 80% of the major module manufacturers are important partners of Eigencomm. Eigencomm's products are rapidly gaining volume in segmented applications such as smart metering, smart firefighting, bicycle sharing, asset tracking, and white goods, empowering 5G application scenarios.
Mr. Liu Shi, the founder of Eigencomm, established the innovative development concept of "China chip" for the company, which not only maintains the industry leading position in products and technology, but also forms strategic cooperation with the best module manufacturers in the world in the market, and also shares the overseas market with Qualcomm in deep strategic cooperation and at the same time.
5G RedCap, whose full name is "5G Reduced Capability", means "the capability to reduce the complexity of the three business scenarios, namely, wearable devices, industrial sensors and video surveillance. Targeted improvements have been made to these three business scenarios, such as reducing device complexity, improving power consumption, and reducing transmission rate. Eigencomm's ultra-high-performance NB-IoT series and Cat.1 bis series products are being commercialized on a large scale with the progress of innovative research and development of 5G RedCap/eMBB products, which are also widely watched and highly recognized by the capital market. Global 5G commercial development is gaining momentum. According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), as of April 2021, 153 operators in 64 countries and regions have operated commercial 5G networks. By the end of August 2021, China had built more than 1 million 5G base stations, accounting for more than 70% of the world's total, and the number of 5G terminal connections exceeded 400 million. The company explores the application of 5G smart life such as sports and culture entertainment, live events, smart communities and other consumer areas. The 5G application model for vertical industries such as high-end manufacturing, medical technology, mines and ports is becoming clearer. Therefore, IoT communication chips play an important role in the process of digitalization, networking and intelligent transformation and upgrading of the real economy.
Eigencomm is continuously solving various application problems in 5G scenarios with its unique and innovative technologies. Leveraging the combined advantages of higher performance, lower power consumption and higher integration, Eigencomm is transforming information transmission into action, creating value for individuals, businesses and countries, and helping 5G to deliver richer digital experiences and unprecedented economic development.
As the lead investor of this round, SoftBank Vision Fund II's investment is not only a capital boost to Eigencomm, but will also further help Eigencomm expand globally in the future.
Mr. Zhang Kaixun, Managing Partner of SoftBank Vision Fund, said, "Cellular communication chips as core devices are critical to drive the rapid growth of the IoT market in China. Eigencomm, as an emerging leader in the industry, has an experienced management team, strong business partners and a top-notch competitive product portfolio. We are excited to work closely with Mr. Liu Shi and the team. SoftBank will continue to support the development of Chinese companies in the field of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
" Mr. Ye Guantai, Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, said, "In my opinion, Eigencomm is super low-key and well-prepared chip development team. Under the leadership of Mr. Liu, the team's mission is not simply to develop IoT communication chips for mass production, but to develop them according to its own deep understanding of the market demand side, combined with the perspective of pursuing product innovation and ultimate cost performance. Qiming Venture Partners is very fortunate to have led Eigencomm's last round of investment and continues to invest in this round to support the company's rapid growth in the coming years.
" Mr. Li Maoxiang, Partner of Cathay Capital, said, "Companies that can independently develop cellular mobile communication chips are extremely scarce worldwide, and Eigencomm is an innovative company with core technology and IP reverse licensing capability to overseas vendors in this field. At the same time, with the long-term continuous investment in infrastructure construction, China is forming a development dividend in IoT and communication, which is one of the key tracks that Cathay Capital's Industrial Technology team is focusing on. The founding team led by Mr. Liu Shi is highly artisanal and focuses its main efforts on continuously optimizing and improving product performance. Together with the team's profound accumulation in the field of IoT and communication, we believe the company can significantly improve customers' expectations of existing industry products, enhance the overall strength of the industry, and become a semiconductor company with global influence."