36Kr Exclusive | Orient Fortune Capital Invests in a Returned Overseas Doctoral Supervisor to Challenge Japanese Giants in High-End Laser Equipment

Author: Ou Xue

Editor: Yuan Silai

Yingke learned that Zhongwei Precision Instrument Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongwei Precision Instrument"), a high - end industrial laser equipment manufacturer, recently completed an angel - round financing of several thousand yuan. This round of financing was exclusively invested by Orient Fortune Capital, and Huajun Capital served as the long - term exclusive strategic financial advisor. The financing funds will be mainly used for R & D investment and team building.

Zhongwei Precision Instrument was established in November 2024, but its technological accumulation can be traced back to 2022. The company focuses on the field of laser ultra - precision machining. Its core business covers the R & D and manufacturing of high - end industrial laser equipment such as laser stripping of silicon carbide ingots, laser stripping of diamonds, and water - guided laser precision machining.

In terms of the team background, Chen Jingyu, the founder of Zhongwei Precision Instrument, is a researcher at the University of New South Wales in Australia and has long been engaged in the integrated development of special chips. Sun Hongbo, the chief scientist, is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University. He is a pioneer in the field of "non - linear laser ultra - precision manufacturing". The entire R & D team is composed of doctoral teams from Tsinghua University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Jilin University, etc.

Different from most laser equipment manufacturers who start from engineering tests, Zhongwei Precision Instrument chooses to start from the physical principle level of the interaction between laser and materials.

"We have a very good understanding of the reactions that occur when lasers and materials absorb energy. This is the root of solving problems. We are willing to start from the research of the most fundamental principles to solve the most difficult industrial problems and build the most high - end equipment manufacturing." Chen Jingyu told Yingke.

Taking the stripping of silicon carbide ingots as an example, the company's independently developed pulse programmable technology can first precisely focus the laser inside the ingot for modification (destroying the lattice bonds without generating cracks), and then guide the cracks to extend directionally through another set of laser processes. This step - by - step control technology path significantly reduces the cutting loss.

From the perspective of market demand, the procurement demand for silicon carbide ingot stripping equipment is gradually being released with the layout of 8 - inch production lines.

Chen Jingyu explained to Yingke that currently, the profit of 6 - inch silicon carbide substrates is meager due to price wars, and manufacturers have insufficient motivation to update equipment. However, the construction of 8 - inch production lines will reach a peak starting from 2026, and the procurement demand for ingot stripping equipment will follow.

"Before 2026, domestic manufacturers are basically in the testing stage because their 8 - inch production lines have not been truly established." Chen Jingyu said.

According to the data provided by the company, in the stripping of 8 - inch silicon carbide ingots, the equipment of "Zhongwei Precision Instrument" can control the loss within 80 microns, while the loss of traditional wire cutting is about 250 microns, and that of other laser equipment is generally above 120 microns. This means that, taking a 20 - millimeter - thick ingot as an example, using the company's technology can produce 40 - 46 wafers with a thickness of 350 microns.

In the more advanced field of diamond cutting, due to the extremely high hardness of diamonds, traditional wire cutting can hardly achieve effective processing. The company uses laser stripping technology to achieve high - speed stripping of single - crystal and polycrystalline diamonds. It is one of the first domestic teams to break through the cutting of large - size (30mm * 30mm) diamonds.

In addition, Zhongwei Precision Instrument has also formed an independent technology layout in the direction of water - guided lasers. The water - guided laser technology was first developed by a Swiss company and is suitable for the processing of materials sensitive to thermal damage. The company is the only domestic team that has independently developed the three core modules of nozzles, optical components, and water pumps, and the cutting accuracy can reach ± 5 microns.

Although it has been established for a short time, Zhongwei Precision Instrument has taken the lead in exporting domestic laser equipment. In March 2025, the company's first equipment was tested at the factory, and it directly received an order after demonstrating the effect at the customer's site. As of now, the company has sold several units to overseas customers, and several other sets of equipment are under external testing.

Entering 2026, as the construction of 8 - inch silicon carbide production lines gradually starts, the demand for ingot stripping equipment is accelerating. Zhongwei Precision Instrument expects to achieve mass sales of silicon carbide ingot stripping equipment this year, achieve large - scale growth in performance, gain a leading global advantage in R & D, and firmly occupy the leading position in sales. In terms of production capacity, the company's current production capacity can meet the needs of market customers, and expansion space has been reserved to cope with subsequent order growth.

Viewpoints of the investor:

Orient Fortune Capital said: The new ultrafast cold laser cutting technology can effectively solve the difficult problems in SiC substrate cutting, achieving the effects of fast cutting speed, small cutting loss, and excellent cutting surface quality. Currently, the global SiC substrate is in an industrial cycle of rapid expansion and the transition from 6 - inch to 8 - inch. Traditional cutting methods are difficult to meet the requirements of the industry, so downstream customers have an urgent need for laser cutting. At present, there are few companies that master high - end laser equipment manufacturing, and the production capacity is seriously insufficient, with a high risk of being "held back". Zhongwei Precision Instrument has an international founding team. The technical team has world - class R & D capabilities and masters the most core optical path control technology of ultrafast cold laser cutting equipment. It has the ability to be completely independently controllable from mechanism exploration, process development, optical optimization to system design. Its future development is very worthy of expectation.