The richest person in Anhui Province has invested in a company held by Ge Weidong.

Over the past period, the global energy storage market has been experiencing a new round of explosive growth. The situation of both volume and price increase has also driven a wave of wealth - creation effects in the secondary market.

SunPower is one of the beneficiaries. Since August 2025, the stock price of this company has soared like a runaway horse from around 70 yuan. It reached a peak of 209.88 yuan in November 2025. Although it has declined since then, it has remained at a high level. As of the close on March 26, the company's stock price was 166 yuan per share, with a total market value of 344.15 billion yuan.

As the stock price rises, the net worth of Cao Renxian, the founder and chairman of the company, has also increased significantly. Calculated based on a shareholding ratio of 30.58%, Cao Renxian's current net worth is as high as 105.2 billion yuan. This figure has increased by more than 37.7 billion yuan compared with the 67.5 billion yuan announced in the "Hurun Rich List 2025" at the end of last year.

As the richest man in Anhui, the dynamics of Cao Renxian and SunPower have always attracted much attention from the market. Recently, their latest move has come to light. On March 19, GJ Semiconductor announced the completion of a new round of financing, and SunPower was the lead investor in this investment.

Currently, there is not much public information about GJ Semiconductor in the market, and the industry it is in is not the main business of SunPower. So, what are the unique features of this company that have won the favor of the richest man in Anhui?

Aiming at Upstream Core Components, Ge Weidong as the Second - Largest Shareholder

Public information shows that GJ Semiconductor was established in 2022 and is headquartered in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. It is an enterprise focusing on the design of high - end real - time control DSP chips.

The so - called real - time control DSP chip is a microprocessor capable of real - time processing of digital signals. Compared with traditional CPUs and GPUs, DSP chips are more efficient in processing specific types of signals, especially when dealing with complex multiplication, division operations and multi - algorithm tasks. Therefore, they are widely used in many fields such as communications, computers, consumer electronics, and industrial control.

The main business of SunPower - photovoltaic inverters and energy storage systems - is essentially energy conversion and control equipment. Its core task is to convert direct current into alternating current and achieve efficient scheduling and management of electrical energy. In this complex energy conversion process, DSP chips often play the role of core components, directly determining the efficiency of energy conversion, the adaptability of the power grid, and the response speed of the system.

It is precisely this strong technical correlation that makes SunPower's investment in GJ Semiconductor seem logical. It may seem like a cross - border move, but in fact, it is a key upstream industrial chain layout around the core main business.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to business synergy, the figure of private equity tycoon Ge Weidong also appears in the shareholder list of GJ Semiconductor.

As early as the establishment of the company, Ge Weidong invested in GJ Semiconductor in his personal capacity. Then, in January 2023 and May 2024, he continuously participated in the angel round and Pre - A round of financing of the company through his Chaos Investment. As of now, Ge Weidong holds 20.13% of the shares of GJ Semiconductor and is the second - largest shareholder of the company.

Ge Weidong has always had a preference for semiconductor projects. According to data from CVSource of Touzhong Jiachuan, as of now, Chaos Investment under Ge Weidong has invested in 36 enterprises, of which 23 are semiconductor companies. In terms of investment performance, it is quite remarkable - it has already achieved four IPOs of Huizhi Micro, Haiguang Information, Wentai Technology, and Muxi Co., Ltd.

In the primary market, it has always been a common idea for new investors to "copy the homework" of investment institutions with good performance to find a path.

In addition, SunPower and Ge Weidong both belong to the "Hefei Industrial Investment Circle". In April 2024, Ge Weidong's Chaos Investment jointly established a new 1 - billion - yuan fund - Hefei Shixi Zhaoyi Chuangzhi Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) with Hefei Venture Capital Guidance Fund, Hefei Industrial Investment, CICC Capital, etc. And the LP behind the SunPower Renfa Carbon Neutrality Fund managed by SunPower's CVC Renfa Investment also includes many local state - owned institutions in Anhui and Hefei such as the Hefei Venture Capital Guidance Fund.

This intersection also makes their "appearance together" not so accidental.

SunPower, an Old Player in the Primary Market

As mentioned above, SunPower has long had a layout in the equity investment market, and it has quite rich experience in both direct investment and being an LP.

Data from CVSource of Touzhong Jiachuan shows that SunPower has had 30 direct investment events. Before GJ Semiconductor, it also invested in several enterprises such as Archimedes Semiconductor, Xinlian Power, and Zhongke Motong.

In addition, SunPower established a CVC institution - Renfa Investment in 2020. Currently, Renfa Investment manages 20 funds, with a total of 67 investment events and a total of 57 enterprises invested. In terms of investment fields, it is mainly concentrated in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chains such as new energy, battery and energy storage technology, new materials, mechanical equipment, and semiconductors.

In addition to direct investment, SunPower has also contributed capital to multiple funds as an LP. For example, in November 2025, it jointly established Hangzhou Xiaodian New Energy Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) with Xiaoshan Venture Capital Guidance Fund, CICC Capital, etc., with a scale of 1 billion yuan. Before that, SunPower and its CVC Renfa Investment had cooperated with institutions such as Hangzhou Capital to establish a 1 - billion - yuan new energy industry mother fund to invest in projects in Zhejiang/Hangzhou.

For industrial capital, abundant deployable funds are the confidence for its activity in the primary market. Looking at SunPower, the company is currently at the "peak moment" of both its stock price and performance.

According to the latest financial report, in the first three quarters of 2025, SunPower achieved a total operating income of 66.402 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 32.95%, and a net profit of 11.881 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 56.34%. This net profit scale means that the company earns more than 43.52 million yuan in net profit every day.

From the asset side, at the end of the reporting period, the company's total assets reached 120.675 billion yuan, and the net cash flow from operating activities was 9.914 billion yuan, indicating a quite stable cash flow situation.

With sufficient "ammunition" in hand and at the peak of performance, SunPower's choice to increase investment in the industrial chain at this time is both following the trend and laying the groundwork for the next round of growth. And its investment in GJ Semiconductor this time is just the latest move in its long - term industrial layout.

New Energy Giants are All Cross - Border Investors

In fact, not only SunPower, but also many new energy giants are involved in equity investment in the primary market.

EVE Energy, a power battery and energy storage company, is a typical example. The company's equity investment can be traced back to 2014. In this year, EVE Energy acquired 50.1% of the equity of McWell (the predecessor of Smoore International) at a consideration of 439 million yuan.

McWell is the world's largest atomization equipment manufacturer, providing core components for many well - known e - cigarette brands. EVE Energy is exactly the lithium - battery supplier of McWell. This acquisition is essentially an industrial chain integration around the core supply chain.

Since then, EVE Energy's investment map has continued to expand. According to data from CVSource of Touzhong Jiachuan, as of now, EVE Energy has made 49 direct investments, investing in 38 enterprises, with a total investment amount of more than 21.121 billion yuan. In addition, the company has also contributed capital to many institutions such as Chengpu Investment, Hairui Investment, Zhemin Investment, and Yunxi Capital as an LP.

In the photovoltaic field, GCL Group is also very active. Just as an LP, GCL has invested in multiple funds. For example, it jointly established a 13 - billion - yuan perovskite industry fund with Suzhou, co - funded the Rongke Xingcai Fund with Chengdu Wutongshu Innovation Fund, and jointly established the Shandong Green Development Equity Investment Fund with Shandong and Qingdao state - owned assets, CATL, etc.

At the same time, GCL has also invested in more than 20 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain such as Huarong Technology, Yuanhe Energy, and Huamei New Materials through its CVC institution Zaishi Capital, covering multiple directions such as new materials, energy storage, and hydrogen energy.

In addition to the above two, photovoltaic giants such as LONGi Green Energy and Trina Solar are also actively deploying equity investment and increasing the establishment of relevant industrial funds.

From SunPower to EVE Energy, from GCL to LONGi and Trina, new energy giants are pouring into the primary market with unprecedented intensity. Behind this are both the capital dividends brought by the industry cycle and the strategic needs of enterprises for vertical integration of the industrial chain.

It is foreseeable that when these industrial capitals enter the market collectively, the rules of the game in the primary market will quietly change. And for the entire new energy track, the competitive landscape of this trillion - level track will also be reshaped.

This article is from the WeChat official account "China Venture Capital", author: Wang Manhua, published by 36Kr with authorization.