Xia Zuoquan is about to usher in his fifth IPO.

The A-share market is about to welcome another star semiconductor company.

Recently, high-speed interconnect chip company "Taorun Semiconductor" has completed the tutoring filing registration with the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, targeting a listing on the ChiNext market.

Founded in August 2015, Taorun Semiconductor focuses on the technology R&D and commercialization of analog and mixed-signal chips. The company's founder Guan Yi is a veteran in the chip sector, who once led the development of complex products such as 4G base station master control chips.

Semiconductor has always been a capital-intensive industry, and Taorun Semiconductor is no exception. Since its establishment, the company has secured 12 rounds of financing, with backers including local state-owned entities such as Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund, Beijing Information Industry Development Fund, Fujian Electronic Information Industry Fund, as well as a host of well-known institutions and industrial capital like Cowin Capital, GL Ventures, Shenzhen Venture Capital, and BYD.

Notably, Xia Zuoquan also appears on the list of investors of Taorun Semiconductor. Back in 2018, he injected the first round of capital into Taorun Semiconductor via Puxin Capital, and made multiple follow-on investments in subsequent rounds. Up to now, Puxin Capital holds a 6.7% stake in the company, making it the second largest institutional shareholder, and Xia Zuoquan himself holds a 5.3% share through direct and indirect holdings.

If Taorun Semiconductor successfully goes public, this "most legendary angel investor" will add another trophy to his track record.

Returned Overseas Chip Veteran Launches Startup, Targeting "Domestic Substitution"

The story of Taorun Semiconductor starts with its founder Guan Yi.

Guan Yi holds a master's degree from New York University, once worked in the APD department of Broadcom, a global chip giant, and has nearly 20 years of experience in chip design. After years of working overseas, he knows better than anyone the shortcomings of domestic chips back then: the core technologies of high-performance analog and mixed-signal chips were long monopolized by overseas giants such as Broadcom and Marvell, with an extremely low localization rate, and almost no domestic presence in the early stage.

In the semiconductor landscape, analog chips are a typical "small yet sophisticated" category — they do not have high unit value, but are spread across every corner of the communication, automotive, and industrial sectors, earning them the well-deserved title of "industrial MSG". The more high-end analog and mixed-signal chips are, the more they rely on long-term experience accumulation and process polishing, which is exactly the confidence that overseas giants have maintained their monopoly for many years.

Having spotted the "domestic substitution" opportunity in relevant fields, Guan Yi gave up his high-paying job overseas in 2015, returned to China to found Shanghai Taorun Semiconductor, and focused on technology-driven high-end analog chip design for toB clients in the communication, automotive and other sectors.

After two years of incubation, the company's first self-developed chip was initially recognized by the industry in 2017; in 2018, the first high-performance analog chip achieved tapeout; in 2020, the delivery of key IP for core clients was realized; in 2025, multiple products entered mass production cycle.

Up to now, Taorun Semiconductor has built four major product lines including high-speed and high-precision ADC/DAC, ultra-high-speed SerDes chips, oDES and signal chain chips, and customized mixed-signal ASICs — precisely targeting the most popular application scenarios such as 5G base stations, AI data centers, and new energy vehicles. Among them, multiple high-end chips including 400G&800G non-coherent DSP chips have successively entered the mass production stage, successfully filling a number of domestic gaps in the communication and data center sectors.

Commercial returns followed. According to its official data, from 2022 to 2024, the revenue of Taorun Semiconductor grew at an annualized rate of over 80%, and the company entered the supply chain of top 3 domestic communication equipment manufacturers.

Now, with the completion of the tutoring filing registration, Guan Yi will lead Taorun Semiconductor into a new stage of development.

Backed by Xia Zuoquan, 12 Rounds of Financing Completed in Total

In the capital market, investors are very optimistic about Taorun Semiconductor. Since its establishment, the company has completed a total of 12 rounds of financing.

Back in 2018, Taorun Semiconductor officially opened up for external financing, and soon attracted the attention of hard tech investor Xia Zuoquan, who invested millions of yuan via his affiliated Puxin Capital.

With the backing of the star investor, the company maintained a financing pace of 1 to 2 rounds per year afterwards, with continuous capital injection: in January 2020, Cowin Capital and Chenshan Capital participated in the Pre-A round of financing; in August 2021, the company received Series A investment from Shenzhen Venture Capital and Fenghe Fund. In November of the same year, the Series B round jointly led by GL Ventures and Shenzhen Venture Capital, with participation from Puxin Capital and Cowin Capital, was announced completed.

For Taorun Semiconductor, 2022 was an important turning point. That year, industrial capital player BYD entered the game, injecting 49.5 million yuan of its own capital to acquire a nearly 2.48% stake in the company, completing the Series C financing, when the company's valuation reached 2 billion yuan. In May and September of the same year, CICC Capital and China Merchants Capital respectively participated in two rounds of Series C follow-on financing of the company.

Since 2023, local state-owned investors have come on stage, and the company has received support from Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund; Fujian Electronic Information Industry Investment Fund participated in the D+ round of financing of tens of millions of yuan in 2025. In the same period, the company also introduced new shareholders including Synergy Capital, Dawu Venture Capital, and Chuhui Capital.

The climax of financing came in January 2026. Taorun Semiconductor completed the D++ round of financing of several hundred million yuan, which was a standard collective "group purchase" covering nearly ten institutions including Xicheng Jinrui, Xinyu Capital, Yinhe Yuanhui, Zhongyuan Capital, Jinma Investment, Shenzhen Venture Capital, GL Ventures, and Cowin Capital, with all types of capital including long-established capital, long-term capital, and industrial capital participating.

A week later, Taorun Semiconductor completed the latest round of financing to date, with investors being Beijing High-end Precision Industry Development Fund, Beijing Information Industry Development Fund, and Beijing Green Energy and Low-carbon Industry Investment Fund, all three of which are industrial funds with state-owned capital background in Beijing. Afterwards, Taorun Semiconductor quickly relocated its headquarters to Beijing and completed the joint-stock system reform.

Eight years, 12 rounds, total financing exceeding 1 billion yuan — when a shareholder list includes top financial investors, industrial capital, and local state-owned capital at the same time, Taorun Semiconductor's "IPO readiness" is fully established.

The "Most Legendary Angel Investor" Is About to Secure His 5th IPO

On the shareholder list of Taorun Semiconductor, the most notable figure is undoubtedly the angel investor Xia Zuoquan, known as the "most legendary angel investor". Speaking of him, people will naturally think of his legendary story with BYD.

In 1994, Xia Zuoquan, who was engaged in securities investment at the time, got acquainted with Wang Chuanfu by coincidence, and was impressed by Wang's passion. He invested 300,000 yuan to co-found BYD with Wang Chuanfu. He is not only a co-founder, but also the earliest angel investor.

In the following years, Xia Zuoquan joined BYD full-time, deeply participated in corporate governance, and accompanied BYD all the way to grow into the current automotive giant. Up to now, he still ranks among the top three natural person shareholders of BYD with a 2.72% stake, and that early investment eventually brought an astonishing 80,000 times return, making Xia Zuoquan famous overnight.

In 2010, Xia Zuoquan resigned from his position as Vice President of BYD, only retaining the position of director, and began to shift his focus to Puxin Investment, which he founded back in 2003.

According to data from CVSource by Zero2IPO, Puxin Investment currently has an AUM of over 10 billion yuan, focusing on early and mid-stage hard tech investment. Up to now, the institution has invested in 149 companies across sectors including semiconductor, new energy, artificial intelligence, and commercial aerospace.

Among them, UBTECH, in which Puxin Investment invested as one of the earliest angel investors, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2023, becoming the "first humanoid robot stock". According to public reports, this investment also brought a return of about 1000 times to the institution. In addition, two portfolio companies of Puxin Investment — Yutai Micro, the Ethernet PHY chip firm, and Shangshui Intelligent, the lithium battery pulping equipment supplier, have also successfully listed on the A-share market one after another.

If Taorun Semiconductor successfully goes public this time, Xia Zuoquan will usher in his fifth IPO following BYD, UBTECH, Yutai Micro, and Shangshui Intelligent.

Up to now, Puxin Capital holds a 6.7% stake in Taorun Semiconductor, making it the second largest institutional shareholder of the company, and Xia Zuoquan himself holds a total of 5.3% equity through direct and indirect holdings. Although Taorun Semiconductor has not announced its specific valuation yet, combining the current pricing level of semiconductor companies in the secondary market and the scale of the company's previous rounds of financing, this investment is very likely to become another classic case in Xia Zuoquan's early investment career.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Zero2IPO", author: Wang Manhua, authorized for release by 36Kr.