Metal Mask Maker Atapex completed its Series A+ financing round worth hundreds of millions of CNY today and Started preparation for the Series B funding round. The company’s self-developed high precise metal mask is expected to break the monopoly of overseas firms in this field.
Zhejiang Atapex (Chinese: 众凌科技), an OLED Fine Metal Mask (FMM) maker in China, announced its Series A round of financing worth hundreds of millions of CNY today, led by CMB International and Changjiang Securities, with participation by Haichaungtou, Pingyang Qianjia, New Alliance Capital, Yunjin Capital, and Linglong Capital, according to news portal 36kr.com.
The company completed its Series A funding round worth hundreds of millions of CNY in October 2021. Plus this financing round, Atapex has enough money to invest in equipment and material and increase working capital.
The company is developing the micron-level FMM etching processing technology. It is currently the only company in China with the technical solution to independently solve the quality problem of raw materials. After mass production, the product will fill the domestic fine metal mask product gap and realize import substitution and safe, autonomous, and controllable import substitution.
At the beginning of its establishment, Atapex invested CNY 430 million (USD 63.898 million) to build the project's first phase. It is also the most extensive single FMM production line in the world. It has a production capacity of 30,000 to 50,000 pieces per year, corresponding to the various current AMOLED panel factories—with different product sizes and specifications.
The cumulative investment of the second-phase plant, which was launched at the same time as the first-phase project (in 2021), in the next four years will exceed CNY 1 billion, the annual production capacity will be 200,000 to 250,000 FMMs, and the total production revenue will be CNY 1.5 to 2 billion. The goal is to occupy 50% to 70% of the domestic market.
The company’s competitors include BOE (Chinese: 京东方), TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology (Chinese: 华星光电), Junyi Technology (Chinese: 浚漪科技), Dai Nippon Printing (DNP), and Toppan Printing.