A Chengdu-based low-altitude unicorn valued at billions of yuan is going for an IPO.
Which city is at the forefront of the national low-altitude economy? Chengdu, home to over 500 related enterprises, should be on the list. A recent example is that an industrial drone company "Made in Chengdu" has initiated its IPO process.
Public information shows that Sichuan Tengdun Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tengdun Technology") has filed for guidance with the Sichuan Securities Regulatory Bureau, and China International Capital Corporation serves as the guidance institution.
Tengdun Technology is a star enterprise in Chengdu. Its founder, Nie Haitao, has an impressive background - he once worked at the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute and participated in the R & D of the J-10 and FC-1 fighter jets.
After resigning to start his own business in 2016, Nie Haitao led his team to launch multiple drone products. The company has received a total of 10 rounds of financing, involving industrial funds from various places such as Chengdu, Jinan, Ganzhou, and Anhui, as well as market-oriented institutions like Huakong Fund, Boyuan Capital, and CICC Capital. After completing a financing round of over 1 billion yuan in 2023, Tengdun Technology, with a valuation of over 12 billion yuan, joined the ranks of unicorns in the low-altitude economy sector.
It is worth mentioning that in the low-altitude economy research report released by Renmin University of China this year, Chengdu's low-altitude industry ranked third in the country. If the IPO is successful, Chengdu will gain its fourth listed drone company and the 15th listed company in the low-altitude industrial chain.
The Designer of J-10 Creates a Unicorn Worth 12 Billion Yuan
Tengdun Technology has two notable features. One is the industry background of its founder, and the other is that there are as many as 99 shareholders in its business registration information.
To understand Tengdun Technology, let's start with its first feature, its founder Nie Haitao. The name Nie Haitao may be unfamiliar to most readers. However, the J-10 fighter jet he participated in developing has recently shown its excellent performance.
In 1986, Nie Haitao graduated from the Aircraft Design major of Nanjing Aeronautical Institute (now Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics). He then joined the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, successively serving as the deputy chief engineer and deputy director. He participated in the development of the J-10 and FC-1 fighter jets and was engaged in the technical demonstration and pre - research of China's future aviation development. Due to his outstanding work performance, he was promoted to a natural science researcher at the age of 32. In the field of drones, Nie Haitao also organized and led the development of multiple types of drones, making contributions to the development and export of high - end drones and the entire system in China.
In 2016, Nie Haitao resigned from the state - owned research institute and entered the commercial drone field, founding Tengdun Technology. Under his leadership, Tengdun Technology quickly assembled a startup team with 20 years of R & D and industrial experience.
After years of dedicated R & D, the company has now launched multiple fixed - wing drones. Take the well - known "Twin - Tail Scorpion Series" as an example. The original version, which made its first flight in 2017, has a fuselage length of 10 meters, a wingspan of 20 meters, and a maximum range of 6,000 kilometers. It can play an important role in fields such as emergency rescue and meteorological services. When it was first introduced, it completed a demonstration flight for SF Express's rapid delivery of emergency supplies.
Subsequently, Tengdun Technology launched multiple versions of this model. At the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition at the end of 2024, the Twin - Tail Scorpion B represented China's large - scale fixed - wing drones in a flight performance. Sichuan also included this product in the "Implementation Plan for Developing and Strengthening Emerging Industries and Accelerating the Cultivation of Future Industries (2025 - 2027)", encouraging its mass production.
Twin - Tail Scorpion B, Image Source: Tengdun Technology's official website
In addition, the company has also developed products such as the amphibious drone Hunjianglong and the medium - sized unmanned helicopter Meiyu Jian. These products have begun to be applied in fields such as emergency rescue, forest and grass fire prevention monitoring, river patrol, hydrological and geological surveys, ecological monitoring, and meteorological monitoring.
With an experienced industry founder and an innovative product portfolio, Tengdun Technology has won wide acclaim. Since its establishment, Tengdun Technology has completed 9 rounds of financing. According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, in the 2024 business annual report published by Tengdun Technology in May 2025, the number of its shareholders has reached 99.
Source: CVSource Investment Data
The most significant rounds among the 9 rounds of financing are the Series B and Series C+ rounds. In the Series B financing in June 2021, 26 institutions, including Sichuan Industrial Fund, Sichuan Development, Huakong Fund, and SDIC Chuangyi, jointly invested billions of RMB. At that time, the term "low - altitude economy" had not yet emerged, and investing in industrial drones was not a popular sector, but this deal still set a record for the largest single - round financing in the industry.
The other is the Series C+ financing in July 2023. Thirteen institutions, including Anhui Guoyuan Fund, GF Xinde, and Jinyu Maowu, jointly invested over 1 billion yuan. After this round of financing, the valuation of Tengdun Technology exceeded 12.2 billion yuan.
In June this year, Tengdun Technology completed another round of financing. The investors include Ganzhou Development Group, Ruixiang Capital, Huakong Fund, and Fantian Equity. Although neither the financing amount nor the post - investment valuation has been disclosed, even if calculated based on a valuation of 12.2 billion yuan, Tengdun Technology ranks approximately third among domestic low - altitude economy unicorns. The top two are DJI with a valuation of 84 billion yuan and Aerospace Feihong with a valuation of 14 billion yuan (the valuations of these two companies are based on the 2025 unicorn list released by Hurun).
Chengdu Gathers Over 500 Low - Altitude Economy Enterprises
If Tengdun Technology successfully goes public, it will mark the emergence of the fourth listed company in Chengdu for drone manufacturing. Before this, three companies, Zongheng Co., Ltd., Zhongwu Drone, and Lihang Technology, have already been successfully listed.
In 2010, Zongheng Co., Ltd. was established in the High - tech Zone of Chengdu, focusing on the R & D of drone flight control and navigation systems. In 2015, this company was the first to mass - produce vertical take - off and landing fixed - wing industrial drones. The establishment of Zongheng Co., Ltd. was a significant milestone. It marked that Chengdu enterprises entered the industrial drone field, and it also meant that the industrial accumulation in the fields of aviation and military industry in Chengdu since the Third - Front Construction began to be gradually released in the civilian field.
Later, the drone industry and the low - altitude economy in Chengdu flourished. For example, Voliflyer, established around the same time as Tengdun Technology, is also one of the representative enterprises. Voliflyer's predecessor was AOSSCI, founded by Guo Liang. Guo Liang, who graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also worked at the AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute.
In 2020, AOSSCI was acquired by Geely. Subsequently, AOSSCI merged with Terrafugia under Geely to become the current Voliflyer. In 2023, Voliflyer opened up external financing and has completed 5 rounds of financing in 3 years. Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment, Ceyuan Capital, and other state - owned investment institutions in Chengdu are important investors; market - oriented institutions include Zhongke Chuangxing, Yuanhe Origin, and Huakong Fund. In the Series C financing in May this year, institutions such as Boyuan Capital, Panlin Capital, and Geely Technology Group continued to increase their investment.
During the Series C financing, Voliflyer officially announced that it had obtained the CCAR - 135 operating certificate issued by the Southwest Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, marking it as the first eVTOL manufacturer in China with the qualification to conduct long - term short - haul aerial sightseeing flights and irregular passenger - carrying flights for 1 - 9 - seat aircraft. With the subsequent implementation of commercialization, the news of Voliflyer's IPO should not be far off.
Of course, Chengdu is not only home to drone manufacturers. According to CVSource Investment Data, Chengdu has 14 listed companies in the low - altitude economy - related industrial chain. This includes aero - engine R & D company Aileda and aviation maintenance company Hite High - tech. Among the non - listed companies, there are as many as 76 industrial chain companies that have received financing. According to the "Investment Guide for the Chengdu Metropolitan Area", more than 500 low - altitude economy enterprises have gathered here.
Of course, the development of the industry also relies on capital. Whether it is Tengdun Technology or Voliflyer, a large amount of Chengdu - based capital is involved. There are state - owned investment institutions such as Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment and Ceyuan Capital, as well as market - oriented institutions like Boyuan Capital and Panlin Capital.
In July last year, Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment and Chengdu Mengjiang Investment Group signed an agreement in Pengzhou, Chengdu, to establish the Chengdu Low - Altitude Economy Industrial Fund, with a target total scale of 3 billion yuan. The management institution is Chengdu Technology Transfer, a subsidiary of Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment. It mainly invests in key areas such as low - altitude manufacturing, low - altitude support, and low - altitude flight.
Before this, Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment managed the first mother fund in Qingyang District, the "Chengdu Digital and Intelligent Industry Fund". Its key investment direction is the aerospace industry. A well - known fact about Chengdu is that the famous Chengdu Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. is located in Qingyang. In the past two years, Qingyang District has been building the aviation industry and has established many aerospace science and technology innovation centers.
In addition, market - oriented limited partners are also increasing their investment in this field. Aileda, an aero - engine R & D company, jointly established the Chengdu Jiaoziao Aihang Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) with institutions such as the Chengdu Productivity Promotion Center.
Aileda was established in March 2004 and listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in August 2017. It is mainly engaged in the precision manufacturing of military and civil aircraft parts and large - scale aerospace structural components. Although the total scale of the fund initiated by Aileda is only 150 million yuan, the combination of a listed company and Chengdu state - owned capital not only increases the source of market - oriented funds in Chengdu but also promotes the agglomeration of the industrial chain.
So far, according to official data from Chengdu, eight low - altitude economy industrial investment funds, such as the Chengdu Low - Altitude Economy Industrial Fund and the Sichuan Development Aerospace High - end Equipment Fund, have been established, with a target scale of over 10 billion yuan. According to the "Three - Year Action Plan for the Development of the Low - Altitude Economy in Chengdu (2025 - 2027)", 100 specialized and sophisticated enterprises in the low - altitude economy field will be cultivated within three years. This undoubtedly means that more capital will flow into the relevant industrial chain companies in Chengdu, and the commercialization process of the low - altitude economy will also accelerate.
References
1. Times Weekly, "Large - scale Drone Company Tengdun Technology Starts Listing Guidance! With 99 Shareholders and a Valuation of Over 10 Billion Yuan."
2. The official website of Tengdun Technology.
3. Sichuan Daily, "A Profile of Nie Haitao."
This article is from the WeChat public account "Dongshisi Tiao Capital" (ID: DsstCapital), author: Yang Boyu, published by 36Kr with authorization.