SHANGHAI -- Shanghai-based semiconductor company Innostar has raised nearly $100 million in a Pre-A financing round led by returning backer Shanghai Lianhe Investment.
New Alliance, a 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) fund that targets technology, media, telecom and health care, also reinvested. New investors included state-backed Atlas Capital and KQ Capital, Innostar said in a Tuesday WeChat post.
The company said it will use the new money for production of resistive random access memory (ReRAM) and storage chips.
With a team of professionals who have worked at Intel, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Spreadtrum Communications, Innostar develops new-generation storage chips and intellectual property. Its products are found in emerging sectors like 5G networks, cloud computing, Internet of Things technology and AI.
In the statement, Innostar said China's memory chip market is forecast to reach $52.3 billion by the end of 2024, comprising 14% of the global market.
"We hope we can design new-generation memory chip products and improve storage technology, as well as advance our ecosystem in partnerships with semiconductor designers and manufacturers," said Innostar founder and CEO Xiang Zhang.
Hong Kong-based Crossbar Asia Pacific is the largest shareholder in Innostar with a 45% stake, followed by Shanghai Lianhe Investment with 30%.
Innostar is also backed by American venture capital Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lam Research, SAIF Partners China, Northern Light Venture Capital, CBC Capital and Oriza Holdings' Oriza Ventures.
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