Chinese IoT chip developer Eswin scores USD 283 million in investment

Beijing-based chip developer Eswin has closed a new financing round, collecting more than RMB 2 billion (USD 283 million) from investors led by Legend Capital and IDG Capital, according to a post on the official WeChat account of Lighthouse Deal, the financial advisor for this round, on Monday.

River Head Capital, Lighthouse Deal, and Broad Vision Funds all joined in this round, proceeds of which will mainly be used on R&D, trial production, and talent hiring.

Eswin, which was founded in 2016, focuses on the design and testing of IoT and human-computer interaction integrated circuits for companies manufacturing displays and wearable devices.

“It is the key historical turning point to vitalize home-made chips now, and the historical opportunity for China to host worldwide chip giants has come,” said Zheng Xuanle, founder and CEO of Lighthouse Deal.

He added that he expects significant growth for the company as its products have finally started being applied commercially after around four years of development. Investors are also betting on China’s domestic semiconductor industry as Sino-US tensions have led the country to pursue increased self-reliance for the core technology.

Wuhan-headquartered integrated circuit (IC) designer Silicon Integrated scored RMB 180 million (USD 25.3 million) in its Series B round led by CTC Capital, KrASIA reported earlier this month.

In February, Xiaomi (HKG: 1810)invested in Shanghai-based chipset company ASR Microelectronics and another chip firm Beijing-based OnMicro Corporation.

Last year, Nanjing-headquartered artificial intelligence chipmaker Iluvatar CoreX closed its Series B round, bagging hundreds of millions RMB from investors including Chinese private equity firm Centurium Capital and Hong Kong-based Princeville Capital.