Chinese electronics behemoth Xiaomi has never held its ambitions on semiconductor and IoT back and this time it invested in a Silicon Platform-as-a-Service company VeriSilicon on June 27.
Chinese electronics behemoth Xiaomi Corporation invested in a Silicon Platform-as-a-Service company VeriSilicon on June 27, a document submitted to Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) by China Merchants Securities shows. Xiaomi holds 6.25% of shares in VeriSilicon.
CMS and Haitong Securities filed its pre-underwriting and counseling application for VeriSilicon with SSE on March, as VeriSilicon seeks to list on STAR Market.
VeriSilicon provides System on a chip (SoC, refers to an integrated circuit where various electronic or computer components are combined onto a single chip) and System in a package (SiP) designs for chip designers, with business covering from mobile devices, data center, IoT, automobile, manufacturing, wearable devices, smart home, auto electronics, and medical devices. Also, VeriSilicon is a leading IP provider with the most comprehensive IP portfolios that address markets including mobile internet devices, data centers, the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, industrial, and medical electronics. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Shanghai, VeriSilicon is the supplier of Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft. The company’s founder Dr. Dai Weimin (Wayne Dai, 戴伟民) founded Celestry in 1995, which was acquired by Cadence Design for USD 135 million. The semiconductor designer has five R&D centers in China and the U.S and employs more than 700 people.
With support from Xiaomi, the company added more members among a series of high-profile investors including Sierra Ventures, Austin Ventures and Stated-owned National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (国家集成电路产业投资基金) , which is an investor of Sanechips, a subsidiary of ZTE.
Following the step of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, Xiaomi becomes the fourth phone maker to create its own processors. It launched Mi 5C equipped with its first in-house process the Surge S1. Though Xiaomi has never held its ambitions on semiconductor and IoT back, the company has never made Surge S2 happen till now. Songguo Electronics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xiaomi that led the project of Surge S1, announced a revamp April. The reconstructing led to some teams splitting up to set up a new company called Big Fish Semiconductor that focuses on research and development of AI and IoT chips and solutions while Songguo continues to develop mobile SoC chips and AI chips.