A female doctor has raised funds again.
This story begins with a recent change. Recently, Xingyue Semiconductor introduced new investors such as Xiamen Yaheng Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and VNTR IX HK Holdings Limited. After in - depth analysis, it's found that they are affiliated with HSG and Hillhouse Capital respectively.
In other words, HSG and Hillhouse Capital have invested in Xingyue Semiconductor.
At first hearing, the name "Xingyue Semiconductor" may sound unfamiliar, but you must be familiar with its leader, Dr. Weiwei Luo. Known as the "Queen of Gallium Nitride", she is also the head of Innoscience, whose latest market value has exceeded HK$73 billion.
Since last year, investors have been inquiring about Weiwei Luo's new project. It turns out that in 2022, she founded Xingyue Semiconductor, which focuses on silicon - based Micro LED. Currently, it has attracted well - known institutions such as Walden International, Huaye Tiancheng, Wuhan State - owned Assets, Yingce Capital, and Legend Capital.
HSG and Hillhouse Invest in Weiwei Luo
Public information shows that Xingyue Semiconductor (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xingyue Semiconductor") was registered and established in September 2022. Its leader is Weiwei Luo, who also owns a listed company in gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors, Innoscience.
For her new project, Weiwei Luo has entered an extremely attractive cutting - edge field: silicon - based Micro LED. The target applications are next - generation artificial intelligence and consumer electronics, with product directions aimed at emerging hardware such as AR glasses, wearable devices, and micro - projectors.
It is reported that Xingyue Semiconductor has chosen the 8 - inch silicon - based gallium nitride LED epitaxy and hybrid bonding technology route and established an IDM model covering from epitaxy to modules. It is also highly compatible with the 8 - inch CMOS semiconductor chip process, featuring extremely fast response speed, excellent contrast and color saturation, high stability, and long lifespan. The products can be applied to AR/MR glasses.
In October 2024, Xingyue Semiconductor officially settled in Wuhan Optics Valley. In just 8 months, it completed the factory construction, equipment installation, and the number of intellectual property rights exceeded 100. In September this year, it announced that the first 8 - inch silicon - based gallium nitride Micro LED production line in China was officially put into operation. This is also the first 8 - inch silicon - based gallium nitride Micro LED chip pilot line in China.
This production line covers the complete process from epitaxial growth to chip module packaging. The first - phase factory area is about 1,600 square meters. After reaching full production, the annual production capacity will reach 12,000 pieces of 8 - inch Micro LED chips, and it is compatible with the mainstream CMOS process. It is worth noting that as a gallium nitride material supplier, Innoscience signed a supply agreement with Xingyue Semiconductor from 2025 to 2027 in March this year, providing gallium nitride epitaxial wafers, testing services, and equipment.
Under the leadership of Weiwei Luo, Xingyue Semiconductor has gathered a group of investors. According to the company's change records, Xingyue Semiconductor introduced Luoyang Science and Technology Innovation Group of Henan State - owned Assets at the beginning of its establishment. Then Walden International, Huaye Tiancheng, and Shengyu Capital joined. In April this year, Wuhan Optics Valley Science and Technology Innovation Industry Investment Fund, Yingce Capital, Legend Capital and other institutions appeared behind Xingyue Semiconductor.
The latest development was in November. Xingyue Semiconductor carried out a series of changes in investors. The new shareholders include HSG and Hillhouse Capital, which is quite symbolic.
The Entrepreneurship History of a Female Doctor
Weiwei Luo is one of the hottest female leaders in the venture capital circle this year.
After graduating with a doctorate in applied mathematics from Massey University in New Zealand, Weiwei Luo joined a research institute under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1999. It took her 15 years to rise from a senior project manager to the chief scientist. During this period, instead of choosing a stable job and life, she founded two high - tech companies focusing on new materials.
Witnessing the rise of the third - generation semiconductors, Weiwei Luo decided to return to China at the end of 2015. "Difficult, really difficult, extremely difficult." She used three "difficult" words to describe her entrepreneurial journey after returning to China: at that time, only one employee was willing to follow her back to start a business, and the R & D funds were nowhere in sight. Even so, her determination to develop "Chinese chips" remained unshaken, and Innoscience was born.
For her third entrepreneurial attempt, Weiwei Luo chose a different path. At that time, most domestic enterprises used 6 - inch or 4 - inch processes, while Innoscience was the only innovative enterprise using an 8 - inch process to manufacture chips. Compared with 6 - inch silicon - based gallium nitride wafers, the number of die outputs from 8 - inch wafers increases by 80%, and the cost of a single device decreases by 30%. However, for every additional inch, the difficulty increases exponentially, and a series of technical challenges need to be overcome.
"I'm on an unexpected path. Almost no one has ever worked on each of our projects and topics." Fearless of venturing into the unknown, Weiwei Luo believes that experience should not be a bottleneck or barrier to development. If something seems feasible, all senses and wisdom will be opened up, and a way will eventually be found.
The turning point came in 2017. When the production capacity of the Zhuhai base reached its limit, Weiwei Luo decided to move the headquarters north to Suzhou. Subsequently, Innoscience built the first 8 - inch silicon - based gallium nitride epitaxy and chip production line in China, filling the domestic gap in this field.
In this way, Innoscience has overcome numerous obstacles and become a dark horse in the global semiconductor industry, attracting a long list of investors. A milestone moment was on December 30, 2024, when Weiwei Luo led the company to ring the bell on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for its IPO.
In August this year, NVIDIA announced the list of partners for its 800V DC power supply architecture. Innoscience is the youngest among them, providing a full - link gallium nitride power supply solution from 800V input to the GPU terminal, covering 15V to 1200V for NVIDIA's 800V DC architecture.
This has further boosted Innoscience's stock price. Since its listing at the end of last year, Innoscience's stock price has been soaring. The cumulative increase this year has exceeded 160%, and the maximum increase during the period once exceeded 200%. The latest market value has exceeded HK$73 billion.
The Rise of Female Leaders in Hard - tech
Semiconductor technology has always been regarded as a male - dominated field, but Weiwei Luo has broken this prejudice.
As a woman, Weiwei Luo also cannot avoid the classic issue of career and family. Looking back on her entrepreneurial journey, she admitted that she faced difficult choices. Returning to China to found Innoscience also meant that she had to miss many crucial moments in her child's growth.
"As a mother, I think this is my regret, but I also hope he can understand that everyone can pursue their own dreams, and life is about self - effort. There is no perfect life; you have to make choices." Weiwei Luo said.
This also provides more inspiration for the younger generation, especially female scientific and technological talents - there is no need to limit oneself. As Weiwei Luo said, you should believe that you can achieve far more than you think, "Where there is a will, there is a way."
Looking around, a new generation of female scientific and technological leaders is emerging. One notable example is Wang Laichun, a female leader from Chaoshan. Starting as an assembly - line worker, she founded a foundry from scratch. Her cooperation with Apple made her company well - known. She led Luxshare Precision to a remarkable turnaround, and now the company's market value exceeds 400 billion yuan, making her one of the most successful female entrepreneurs.
There is also Qunfei Zhou, a Hunanese woman, who has transformed from an ordinary migrant worker into the "Queen of Glass" and now heads Lens Technology with a market value of over 100 billion yuan. Cao Fang, the sister of Cao Dewang, has built Zhengli New Energy, a lithium - ion battery manufacturer with a market value of 23 billion yuan. Wei Ziping and Zhou Yuhong of Biosis Bio are tackling challenges in the forefront of biomedicine. The Guo Yunrong and Guo Wanrong sisters of Huaxin Precision Technology have created an "invisible champion" in precision manufacturing, and so on.
Young female scientific and technological leaders are also stepping onto the stage. In recent years, we have seen that Shi Wenling, born in 1998, took over the reins of Chunli Medical from her father Shi Chunbao. Gao Haichun, born in 1993, became the successor of Trina Solar with a market value of 40 billion yuan. Chen Lei, born in 1987, took over as the chairman of Tongkun Group Co., Ltd. with a market value of 37 billion yuan. Lü Zixuan, born in 1993, heads Tongce Medical with a market value of 10 billion yuan... The list goes on.
Looking around, in hard - tech fields such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare, a group of female founders with both scientific research backgrounds and management capabilities are emerging one after another.
They usually have solid academic and industrial experience. With strong willpower, they have moved from the laboratory to the front line of the industry. Their rigor, focus, attention to details, and long - lasting resilience have become significant advantages in hard - tech R & D, which requires long - term dedication. As we can see, in the venture capital circle, the proportion of projects led or co - founded by women in terms of financing has quietly increased.
The emergence of these female scientific and technological leaders is not just a gender - related story but also a vivid chapter in the grand narrative of China's hard - tech rise.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Investment World" (ID: pedaily2012), written by Jiali Zhou, and published by 36Kr with permission.