Resulting from this deal, the company's registered capital increased from CNY 65.94 million to CNY 73.17 million.
On June 21, Hubble, a venture capital entity of Chinese tech giant Huawei, has announced an investment in yet another semiconductor startup – MaxOne, which was founded in 2015 and is primarily focusing on the design and production of probe cards.
MaxOne is the first company in China to have the R&D capability to design vertical probe cards, using the 'class 100' cleanrooms. It is one of the enterprises in the space aiming to substitute the imported components, in China's quest for semiconductor self-reliance.
As a high-precision electronic component, the probe card is mainly used to receive chip signals and screen out defective products by contacting the probe with the pads or bumps on the chip before an integrated circuit (IC) is packaged. Thus, probe cards are high-precision devices that significantly impact IC manufacturing and are also an essential part of ensuring chip yield and cost control.
According to VLSI Research, a semiconductor market research firm, the global market for probe cards will reach USD 2.74 billion, and the Chinese market will reach CNY 3.28 billion by 2025. Currently, companies such as the US' FormFactor, Japan's MJC and Italy's Techno Probe are leading the pack in the space.
Meanwhile, MEMS probe cards account for about 60% of the global market. MaxOne, China's only player in this domain, with its growing technological prowess, is likely to benefit from the positive industry trends.