According to the company intelligence expert “Financial Graffiti”, Biren Technology, an 11-month-old general smart chip design company, recently announced the completion of the Pre-B round of financing. This round was led by Hillhouse Ventures, followed by well-known investment institutions such as Yunjiu Capital, Gaorong Capital, Jinpu Technology Fund, Cornerstone Capital, and Haichuang Fund of Funds. The existing investors Songhe Capital, IDG Capital, Yunhui Capital, Zhuhai Da Hengqin Group continued to make additional investments. The funds raised in this round will still be used to accelerate product technology research and development and strengthen market expansion.

In mid-June of this year, Biren Technology completed a RMB 1.1 billion Series A financing led by Qiming Venture Partners, IDG Capital and Walden International China Fund, setting a record for the largest scale in the industry in recent years. In less than a year since its establishment, Biren Technology has accumulated nearly 2 billion yuan in financing.

The team has top product development experience

Biren Technology was established in 2019. The team is composed of core professionals and R&D personnel in the field of chip and cloud computing at home and abroad. sizing solution. On the development path, Biren Technology first focuses on general-purpose intelligent computing in the cloud, and gradually catches up with existing solutions in artificial intelligence training and reasoning, graphics rendering, high-performance general-purpose computing and other fields, and achieves breakthroughs in domestic high-end general-purpose intelligent computing chips.

The Biren Technology team is led by senior chip experts with decades of experience and a large number of experienced engineers. More than 20% of the members are Ph.D., and more than 80% have a master’s degree. Peking University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and other well-known universities at home and abroad, and have played many important roles in the research and development of flagship products of many top processor manufacturers at home and abroad.

Before founding Biren Technology, Zhang Wen worked for SenseTime and served as the president. This is the first time this Daniel, who holds a doctorate in law from Harvard University and an MBA degree from Columbia, has embarked on the “entrepreneurial road”.

According to public information, after graduating from Harvard, Zhang Wen served as a senior lawyer in a top Wall Street law firm, and later served as the general manager of private equity funds. He played an important role in a number of large-scale mergers and acquisitions, and participated in a total of $17.6 billion in private equity fund acquisitions. Especially familiar with high-tech, oil, natural gas, green and new energy fields.

After returning to China in 2011, Zhang Wen participated in the establishment of Yingrui Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., and served as president and CEO, and chairman of Konka Lighting Technology Co., Ltd.; he worked with Lingang Group and China Development Bank to establish Shanghai Dingyu Hengrui Equity Investment Fund Manage the company and serve as chairman and CEO.

Significant industry opportunities over the decades

Biren Technology was born in the golden age of entrepreneurship and development of the chip industry, which has been rare in China for decades. China’s huge application market has given birth to opportunities in the chip field. Localized high-end AI chips designed for multiple AI application fields, including security, driverless, medical, home and other scenarios, will have a place. In the face of a new field and competitive landscape, the leader needs to keep pace with development speed and development quality.

Zhang Wen, founder and chairman of Biren Technology, said, “The chip industry, especially the general-purpose smart chip industry, is a typical capital-intensive and talent-intensive industry, coupled with large-scale scenario applications, constitute the three key factors that drive enterprises to success. A major factor.” He further stated that the strong support of several top investment institutions in the two rounds of financing will definitely help Biren Technology to accelerate the industrial ecological layout and lay a solid foundation for its long-term development.

Huang Liming, a partner of Hillhouse and head of Hillhouse Venture Capital’s software services and primary technology innovation, said, “The Biren technology team has a very deep technical accumulation in the fields of GPU and intelligent computing. It is currently the key to the development of artificial intelligence chips in China. During this period, as a leading domestic intelligent computing chip company, Biren Technology is facing a broad market with deep demand. We believe in Biren Technology’s R&D capability and execution ability, and also believe that this team with a large number of top international talents will contribute to the industry long-term contribution to development.”