Just now, a star IPO was born in Shenzhen.

Another star IPO has emerged from the Tsinghua University entrepreneurial ecosystem.

On July 8th, led by Tsinghua alumnus Wang Zhihan, Basic Semiconductor successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Immediately after the opening bell, the semiconductor firm, which focuses on silicon carbide power devices, reached a market capitalization exceeding HK$11 billion.

According to partial statistics, including Basic Semiconductor and Momenta which debuted on the same day, more than a dozen companies from the Tsinghua entrepreneurial network have gone public since the start of 2026.

With additional firms such as CXMT, Qingtao Energy, and Enflame Technology actively advancing their IPO processes, alongside reported upcoming listings from Moonshot AI, MetaX, Shengshu Technology, Galaxy Universal, and Star-Sea Diagram, the Tsinghua-affiliated corporate listing cohort is expanding at an accelerating pace.

Top Student Turned Entrepreneur Delivers a Shenzhen Star IPO

The story of Basic Semiconductor begins with an outstanding academic achiever.

Back in 1999, 17-year-old Wang Zhihan graduated from Shenzhen Middle School and was admitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University after achieving a perfect score in physics on the Guangdong Province college entrance examination. Eight years later, he earned his doctorate in power electronics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

While he had already conceived entrepreneurial ideas during his studies, he first worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. After mastering power semiconductor technology, he chose to return to China to launch his business. In 2009, Wang Zhihan officially founded the technology company "Bronze Sword" in Shenzhen.

At that time, power semiconductor devices were almost entirely monopolized by foreign enterprises. However, Wang Zhihan and his team identified tremendous untapped opportunities in the sector. Facing the market's huge potential, even amid the global economic crisis, they resolutely embarked on their entrepreneurial journey.

After years of development, Bronze Sword successfully developed and mass-produced its first high-power IGBT (Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor) driver chip with independent intellectual property rights. Gradually, the domestically produced chips partially replaced imported alternatives in fields such as photovoltaic power generation, smart grids, and new energy vehicles.

As time passed, silicon carbide — a material suitable for manufacturing high-frequency, high-power devices resistant to extreme temperatures, high voltages, and large currents — became a highly sought-after market commodity. Recognizing that silicon carbide would replace silicon as the mainstream material for power semiconductors, the company focused its key efforts on the silicon carbide sector.

In response to strong market demand for silicon carbide discrete devices and power modules, Bronze Sword ultimately partnered with Swedish silicon carbide firm Ascatron AB to jointly establish Basic Semiconductor in Shenzhen in June 2016. Just two years later, Ascatron AB transferred all its shares in the joint venture.

To date, by concentrating on silicon carbide power devices, Basic Semiconductor has developed automotive-grade and industrial-grade silicon carbide power modules, silicon carbide discrete devices, and power semiconductor gate drivers, which are applied across new energy vehicles, industrial electronics, renewable energy, and other sectors.

In the new energy vehicle market — the largest end-use application for silicon carbide semiconductors — the company has secured design-in placements for over 80 vehicle models from more than 20 automakers. This widespread customer recognition has driven continuous revenue growth, rising from 221 million yuan in 2023 to 311 million yuan in 2025.

However, due to factors such as heavy R&D investment, the company remains in a loss-making state. Its prospectus shows that during the reporting period from 2023 to 2025, Basic Semiconductor recorded net losses of approximately 342 million yuan, 237 million yuan, and 335 million yuan respectively. Over the same period, the company accumulated more than 275 million yuan in R&D expenditures across the three years.

With the global silicon carbide power device industry experiencing rapid growth, this Shenzhen-based star enterprise that has deep expertise in silicon carbide still has enormous room for development following its successful listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Through to Series D Financing, Investors Reap Their Long-Awaited Rewards

Throughout its growth trajectory, Basic Semiconductor has attracted the interest of numerous investors.

Less than a year after its founding, the company completed its angel round of financing with investors including Lihe Technology Innovation. After successfully developing its first-generation silicon carbide MOSFET devices and beginning to sell silicon carbide discrete components, it closed its Series A financing in December 2018, with participating investors such as Lihe Technology Innovation, Yonghua Investment, and Renzhi Capital.

Following the development of automotive-grade silicon carbide power modules and the completion of early vehicle testing for automotive-grade silicon carbide discrete devices, Basic Semiconductor secured additional investment from Lihe Capital. In 2020, with the support of Anxin Investment and other backers, the company smoothly completed its Series A++ round of financing.

With sufficient capital in place, the company integrated its silicon carbide and driver businesses, and its 2020 revenue exceeded 50 million yuan. In December of the same year, Basic Semiconductor closed its Series B round, with investors including Lihe Capital, Wingtech, Shenzhen Investment Holdings, Minhe Capital, Yitang Changhou, and Xiche Investment.

During their due diligence process, Songhe Capital observed that Basic Semiconductor was accelerating the iterative upgrading of silicon carbide technology and taking the lead in deploying applications for the new energy vehicle industry. As a result, alongside Lihe Technology Innovation, Bosch Venture Capital, and the China-U.S. Green Fund, they participated in the company's Series C1 financing in September 2021.

From that point onward, the company completed a total of five rounds within the Series C financing sequence over more than a year. Additional participating investors included GAC Capital, CMB International Capital, Guangdong Technology Financial Group, the Guangdong Yueke Jiangmen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Mother Fund, Zhuhai Cultural Industry Investment Fund, Chuxin Fund, Yitang Changhou, Dezaihou Capital, Guohua Sanxin, Xingaodi Fund, Yonghua Investment, and Hongtai Fund.

Throughout this process, Basic Semiconductor not only constructed its Wuxi production base and Guangming production base, but also signed a long-term agreement with a global new energy vehicle manufacturer. Meanwhile, the cumulative shipment volume of its automotive-grade silicon carbide power modules surpassed 30,000 units. Currently, the company also operates a testing base for power semiconductor gate drivers in Shenzhen.

In April 2024, the company secured investment from CRRC Capital. One year later, Basic Semiconductor raised 150 million yuan from Zhongshan Financial Control and the Zhongshan Torch Development Zone Science and Technology Innovation Industry Mother Fund. Upon completing its Series D financing, the company's valuation exceeded 5.1 billion yuan. At the time, the Zhongshan municipal government aimed to drive the industrial transformation and upgrading of integrated circuit new materials and automotive components in the Torch High-Tech Zone.

As time progressed, Basic Semiconductor finally rang the listing bell successfully. This milestone signifies that the investors who supported the company's long-term growth have finally reached their moment of harvest.

The Tsinghua Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Spawns a Wave of IPOs

Looking across the market, the Tsinghua entrepreneurial network is continuously producing new listed companies.

According to statistics from CVSource by China Venture, 122 companies completed IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and A-share markets in the first five months of 2026. Among them, 12 firms were founded by Tsinghua University graduates, ranking first among all universities nationwide.

Zhipu, OmniVision Group, GigaDevice, Axera, Yunyinggu Technology, Inovance Robotics, Easun, Huaqin Technology, Hengdao Technology, and Kailushi Technology — this long list of companies that have gone public in 2026 has once again drawn widespread attention to the "Tsinghua-affiliated" label.

Among these enterprises, Zhipu, known as the "world's first large model stock," has delivered an exceptional performance. The company was spun out from technical achievements of Tsinghua University's Department of Computer Science, originating from the Tsinghua University Knowledge Engineering Laboratory founded in 1996. Since its January 2026 listing, its share price has surged continuously, with its market capitalization at one point exceeding HK$1 trillion.

Behind this staggering market value, the company's core team has played a pivotal role. As the chief scientist of Zhipu, Tang Jie is also a professor in Tsinghua University's Department of Computer Science, who led the development of China's first trillion-parameter open-source large model, "Wuda 2.0." Zhipu's CEO, Zhang Peng, was admitted to Tsinghua's Department of Computer Science in 1998 and is an "Innovation Leader" doctoral candidate at the university. Meanwhile, Zhipu's Chairman, Liu Debing, previously served as the deputy director of the Research Center for Science and Technology Big Data at Tsinghua's Data Science Institute.

Notably, Zhipu — which has already listed in Hong Kong — has announced plans for an A-share listing. As it accelerates the deployment of its "A+H" dual platform strategy, fellow Tsinghua-affiliated firm GigaDevice, which debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the same month as Zhipu, has already achieved this dual-listing goal. In addition to GigaDevice, Zhu Yiming — who completed both his undergraduate and master's degrees at Tsinghua University — is on the verge of ushering in another mega IPO with CXMT.

After founding GigaDevice in 2005, Zhu Yiming led the company to focus on the R&D and production of Nor Flash memory chips. In 2016, GigaDevice listed on the A-share market. In the same year, the company expanded into DRAM chips suitable for mobile phones and other electronic devices, and initiated an acquisition of Silicon Storage Technology.

Although that acquisition was ultimately unsuccessful, Zhu Yiming partnered with Hefei, which was actively developing its semiconductor industry chain, to build CXMT — now valued at over 150 billion yuan. Currently, CXMT is the largest and most technologically advanced integrated DRAM chip R&D, design, and manufacturing enterprise in mainland China, and has already received regulatory approval for its IPO.

Alongside CXMT, other Tsinghua-affiliated companies such as Qingtao Energy have also launched their IPO journeys. At the same time, firms with Tsinghua backgrounds including Moonshot AI, MetaX, Shengshu Technology, Galaxy Universal, and Star-Sea Diagram have all reported upcoming listing plans.

This means that before long, a new batch of Tsinghua-founded IPOs will enter the market.

This article is from the WeChat public account "China Venture", written by Lu Zhigao, edited by Wang Qingwu, and published with authorization from 36Kr.