Breaking the overseas monopoly of silicon carbide power semiconductor testing equipment, "Chenxin Technology" completed a Series B financing of 200 million yuan | 36Kr exclusive.
Author | Lin Qingqing
Editor | Yuan Silai
36Kr has learned that "Chenxin Technology", a provider of precision instruments and automated testing equipment for silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor, has recently completed its Series B financing round with an amount of 200 million yuan. This round of financing is led by SDIC Venture Capital, with Sunshine Convergence and the existing shareholder Volcanics Venture participating. This round of financing will mainly be used for the company's forward-looking product research and development, new product mass production, and global business layout.
"Chenxin Technology" was established in 2020. Its main products cover the characteristic characterization and testing links of silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), and silicon (Si)-based power semiconductor devices. It is committed to providing accurate, reliable, and cost-effective testing solutions for power semiconductor IDM enterprises, new energy vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1, and power device design and packaging enterprises.
Power semiconductor devices are known as the "CPU" of power electronic devices and are the most critical core components for the efficient and reliable operation of power electronic systems. The precision testing instruments and equipment provided by "Chenxin Technology" can be used by power semiconductor device manufacturers for accurate electrical performance characterization, mass production testing, and reliability testing of semiconductor devices.
With the development of industries such as new energy vehicles, optical energy storage and charging, smart grids, and data centers, the performance requirements for power semiconductors are constantly increasing. The limitations of silicon-based devices in terms of high voltage resistance, high temperature resistance, and energy efficiency are gradually emerging, promoting the market to shift to wide bandgap semiconductor devices.
As a representative of wide bandgap semiconductor materials, silicon carbide provides a higher electric field strength, thermal conductivity, and electron saturation velocity than silicon-based devices, making SiC power semiconductors have obvious application advantages in fields such as new energy vehicles, supercharging piles, renewable energy, smart grids, and high-end medical imaging equipment. According to Yole Intelligence's prediction, by 2028, the SiC power semiconductor market will exceed 8.9 billion US dollars, and the market penetration rate will reach 55%.
The expansion of the silicon carbide power semiconductor market promotes the growth of demand for testing equipment. However, the development and application of silicon carbide testing equipment face major technical difficulties such as high-frequency electromagnetic interference and oscillation, testing accuracy and speed, and the reliability and durability of the equipment. This requires the testing equipment to have extremely high accuracy and response speed, while ensuring stable operation under extreme conditions.
In the international market, power semiconductor testing equipment is mainly supplied by several foreign enterprises with mature technologies, which have established advantages in the traditional silicon-based semiconductor testing field. Although the domestic market started relatively late, in recent years, the market has an urgent demand for new testing solutions for silicon carbide devices. According to statistics, the market size of China's power semiconductor testing equipment is about 3 billion yuan in 2024, and it is expected to reach 10 billion yuan in 2030.
"Chenxin Technology" was established under the background of this technological transformation of power semiconductor materials. Dr. Mao Saijun, the founder, said, "Our main customers at that time included well-known enterprises such as Wolfspeed. We have been cooperating with leading enterprises in the international and domestic industries since 2020. Power semiconductor devices and vehicle manufacturers urgently need high-performance testing equipment to conduct full-condition characteristic tests on silicon carbide power semiconductors."
The silicon carbide power semiconductor testing system product line of "Chenxin Technology" covers the testing links of SiC-based power semiconductor devices, including wafer-level dynamic WLR testing system, chip-level KGD testing system, dynamic testing system, static testing system, dynamic reliability testing system, bipolar degradation testing system, inverter towing testing system, etc., covering power semiconductor wafer-level testing, chip-level testing, single-tube/module-level testing and system-level testing, which can meet the diverse scene requirements of laboratories and production lines.
"Chenxin Technology" Precision Characteristic Testing Series Products for Power Semiconductors
Dr. Mao Saijun pointed out that one of the difficulties in the testing of silicon carbide devices is that during the high-speed switching process of silicon carbide devices, the stray induction in the testing circuit will generate extremely high voltage spikes, which may make it impossible to conduct a comprehensive and reliable measurement within the operating voltage range of the device. To solve this problem, "Chenxin Technology" adopts an innovative laminated busbar and capacitor structure design to reduce the stray inductance of the testing main circuit to 6nH, thereby improving the accuracy and reliability of the testing. Up to now, the company's machine shipments have exceeded 200 units, and it has established cooperation with the first-tier leading IDM customers in the domestic power semiconductor industry, and has completed the first batch of installations overseas.
In addition to the silicon carbide power semiconductor testing field, "Chenxin Technology" also has a layout in the high-precision measurement instrument business sector. Its main products include precision digital source meters, precision sources, etc. These instruments are used as key components in the company's power semiconductor testing system and are also sold as separate products. This year, the company launched a series of high-precision digital source meter (SMU) products and has received continuous and stable overseas orders.
"Chenxin Technology" High-Precision Test Source Meter
At the same time, in the field of high-end medical imaging equipment, "Chenxin Technology" focuses on products such as dual-energy instantaneous switching CT high-voltage generators and X-ray sources. Its CT medical high-voltage generator product, which has been under long-term research and development, is being introduced to the leading first-tier manufacturers and is about to complete the fixed-point and small-batch production of mainstream models.
Currently, the office of "Chenxin Technology" in Munich, Germany is about to open, and it has established a sales and after-sales team in Guangzhou to cover South China and Southeast Asia, serving the company's installed machines and potential customer groups in Europe and Southeast Asia. The company has currently obtained more than 100 invention and utility model patents.
In terms of the team, Dr. Mao Saijun, the founder of "Chenxin Technology", once worked at GE Global Research Center for more than ten years. He led the team to successfully develop more than 10 first-of-its-kind products in the silicon carbide power electronics industry and has 20 years of experience in the testing and application research of silicon carbide power semiconductors.
Investor Views:
SDIC Venture Capital stated: The downstream applications such as new energy vehicles have driven the rapid development of all links in the silicon carbide industry chain. The material characteristics of silicon carbide have brought new challenges to its testing and application. The core team of Chenxin Technology has rich experience in the application and testing of silicon carbide power semiconductors, and has quickly constructed a complete product matrix of power semiconductor testing equipment. Many of its products fill the industry gap, and the company has become a leading enterprise in this sub-field. Chenxin Technology is expected to be a part of SDIC Venture Capital's layout in the entire silicon carbide industry chain, helping to promote the synergy and high-quality development of the silicon carbide industry.
Sunshine Convergence Capital stated: Chenxin has rich R & D and industrialization experience, an international perspective, and the world-leading SiC testing equipment technology. Its commercialization progress is rapid, and the testing equipment has been mass-produced and sold in batches to leading enterprises at home and abroad. At the same time, the company has achieved independent research and development of core components and enriched the product line such as high-voltage generators. Sunshine Convergence Capital will give full play to the resources in the medical field to further explore the value of Chenxin and form industrial synergy.
Volcanics Venture, the existing shareholder that participated in this round of follow-on investment, said: In the past year, we have witnessed the orderly advancement of Chenxin Technology's global strategy, which has proved its competitive strength on a global scale, and the performance of the testing machine has also been recognized by international leading enterprises. Chenxin Technology is expected to seize the opportunity of the capacity expansion of the entire SiC industry chain and become a leader in the power semiconductor testing equipment industry.