Viiyong, a Chinese manufacturer of multi-layer ceramic chip capacitors (MLCCs), has secured almost 2 billion yuan ($294.8 million) in its Series B, and B+ rounds of financing to advance R&D and expand production capacity.
Viiyong, whose shareholders include Chinese smartphone brands Xiaomi and Oppo, plans to further invest in production facilities for its newly-built plants and the R&D of auto-grade MLCCs, said the firm in a post on its WeChat official account on Tuesday.
The fresh capital will ensure that Phase I of the firm’s two production plants become fully operational and capable of delivering 600 billion MLCCs per year, said Viiyong. It said it will proceed with its Phase II & III projects with a planned total investment of 12 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) to achieve an annual production capacity of 1.5 trillion MLCCs by 2028.
While Viiyong did not disclose the investors of its Series B and Series B+ rounds, local media outlets reported that the country’s investment banks CITIC Securities and GF Securities, as well as China’s state-linked investment companies SDIC Venture Capital and Technology Financial Group were among the backers.
Viiyong, formally known as Guangdong Viiyong Electronic Technology, was started in 2001 when its founder and chairman Chen Weirong resigned from his position as the president at Chinese publicly-listed Konka Group after a seven-year tenure.
Through this new venture, Chen embarked on a journey of developing MLCCs, which are the most common capacitors used in modern electronics. The firm repositioned itself in 2017 to target higher-end markets, with a focus on the production of micro-size, high-frequency, high-capacitance MLCCs for the automotive industry.
Its products have powered automotive electronics to enable features such as intelligent driving and various smart cockpits. Viiyong also serves clients across other industries including semiconductors, public security, Internet of Things (IoT), and household appliances.