Huahao Weiye Secures Nearly 100 Million Yuan in Series B Funding, with Automotive LED Products Delivered to Leading Companies Such as Dongfeng and Geely | Exclusive Report by 36Kr

Author | Zhang Ziyi

Editor | Peng Xiaoqiu

Yingke learned that Shenzhen Huahao Weiye Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huahao Weiye") recently completed a nearly 100 million yuan Series B financing. The investors in this round are Xinfang Fund and Nuohui Investment. The financing funds will be mainly used for the expansion of new production capacity, the R & D of new products, and market expansion.

Huahao Weiye was established in 2014. Its products cover interior and exterior vehicle lighting and in - vehicle displays. It is the first domestic vehicle - use LED enterprise to be introduced into automobile manufacturers and achieve mass production and delivery within one year.

The development of the Chinese automobile market has promoted the growth of demands for digital cockpits, intelligent vehicles, pixel headlights, digital headlights, etc., and also driven the development of the industrial chain behind new automobile technologies, including the LED industry. Due to the high technical threshold of vehicle - use LEDs, the market has long been monopolized by overseas manufacturers such as Osram, Tongmingliang, and Seoul.

Under the current fierce competition in the new energy vehicle market, automobile manufacturers have a demand to reduce the cost of high - value components like vehicle - use LEDs. Therefore, there are huge import substitution opportunities for domestic manufacturers. The technical and control barriers of vehicle - use LEDs are much higher than those of general LEDs. There are less than five listed companies involved in this field, and the competition in the domestic market has not yet reached a white - hot stage.

Huahao Weiye introduced that its products have been delivered in batches to leading automobile manufacturers such as Nissan, Dongfeng, Geely, and Chery. The products cover all light sources in vehicles. Currently, the Shenzhen factory is operating at full capacity. The Zhaoqing factory is expected to start the first - stage production capacity release by the end of this year, which will gradually solve the current tight delivery problem.

Chen Zhiming, the founder of Huahao Weiye, told Yingke: "The company has become an important partner of most domestic and some international automobile manufacturers. More and more vehicles on the road are equipped with Huahao's products. The company also has a good market share in the emerging front and rear interactive lights in recent years. These interactive vehicle lights have a high LED density and extremely high requirements for reliability, which need to exceed the vehicle regulations."

Yingke learned that digital high - and low - beam and ambient LEDs for vehicles belong to the emerging market of vehicle - use LEDs. The high - and low - beam technology is difficult, and the requirements for reliability and heat dissipation are much higher than those of other vehicle - use LEDs, making it extremely difficult to pass vehicle regulations certification.

Huahao Weiye said that through a number of self - developed technologies, including self - developed wire arc and welding processes to ensure firmer wire bonding; self - developed low - expansion glue to improve product reliability; self - developed thermal sub - eutectic technology to enhance the heat dissipation capacity of headlight LEDs; and self - developed white - surrounding glue to improve the heat dissipation and anti - yellowing ability of headlight LEDs. The company has become the only domestic enterprise whose high - and low - beam LED performance surpasses that of Osram and the only domestic enterprise whose ambient light LEDs have passed vehicle regulations certification.

Wei Jianhua, the CTO of Huahao Weiye, told Yingke: "The company has its own process and material technologies. In terms of product reliability, it can fully withstand the 150°C high - temperature test for three times the normal test time. This indicator means that the reliability of Huahao's vehicle - use LEDs exceeds the international vehicle regulations requirements by more than 50%, providing sufficient guarantee for driving in extremely cold or hot regions and giving enough confidence for Chinese new energy vehicles to go global."

Facing the broad market prospects of vehicle - use LEDs, the financing funds in this round of Huahao Weiye will be used for the expansion of vehicle - use LED device production and the increase in R & D of vehicle - use TOF sensors. A complete vehicle - use product system, including vehicle lighting sources - TOF sensing - light control systems, will be gradually formed.

In terms of the team members, Chen Zhiming, the founder and CEO, has served as a R & D engineer and sales director in the LED division of Zhaochi Co., Ltd. Wei Jianhua, the CTO, was one of the co - founders of Jufei Optoelectronics and also held important positions in the R & D department of Everlight Electronics in Taiwan, China. He has long served as the product R & D director. Other core members all have more than ten years of industrial experience.

Investors' views:

Yu Wenchao, a partner of Dunhong Asset, believes that the Huahao team targeted the high - end market from the very beginning. After nearly a decade of R & D accumulation and years of experience accompanying large manufacturers, the company has finally become one of the few domestic manufacturers that have broken through technical difficulties and achieved mass production. Our company invested in Huahao in 2022. Now the phased results have been achieved and immediately attracted new investors. We hope that the company can increase production capacity and broaden the product line through this round of financing to further strengthen its technical strength.

Zhong Xiaobing, a partner of Xinfang Capital, believes that Xinfang Capital, as the manager of the Zhaoqing Xijiang Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund, participated in this round of financing of Huahao Weiye. The new energy vehicle industry is one of the pillar industries in Zhaoqing City, where well - known automobile manufacturers such as XPeng Motors and GAC Group are concentrated. However, it is understood that the supply chain for vehicle lighting sources previously basically relied on imports. Huahao Weiye has solved the relevant technical problems of automotive lighting sources and has gained rich mass - production and delivery experience. We hope that Huahao Weiye can combine the regional characteristics and industrial advantages of Zhaoqing City. Through the investment and empowerment of Xinfang Capital, it can further enhance the company's core competitiveness and become a benchmark enterprise for industrial upgrading in the western wing of the Greater Bay Area.