Chinese semiconductor firm Gowin Semiconductor Corp has raised 880 million yuan ($132 million) in a Series B+ round of financing to fund its ambition of promoting the development of domestic field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
Guangzhou-based Gowin mainly provides FPGAs, which are integrated circuits (ICs) that can be reprogrammed for a desired application after manufacturing. Due to their programmable nature, FPGAs are an ideal fit for many industries, with players like Gowin serving clients across the fields of automotive, artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing, communication, industrial, consumer, medical, LED display, cloud computing, and data centres.
Its Series B+ round was led by Guangzhou Bay Area Semiconductor Industry Group, a government-guided, mixed-ownership venture launched in southern China’s Guangzhou City with 16 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) of initial registered capital. Its investment made it the largest shareholder of Gowin.
Existing shareholders also invested in the latest round, alongside domestic investors including the 10-billion-yuan ($1.5 billion) Guangdong Macao Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund, and Shanghai Semiconductor Equipment & Materials Industry Investment Fund.
With the new funding, Gowin plans to step up investment in technological R&D, corporate management, and market promotion, with a focus on the application of FPGAs in the automotive industry.
Gowin was caught in the middle of the US-China race for tech supremacy in January 2021, when it was designated by president Donald Trump’s administration as a “Communist Chinese military company” barring US entities from investing in it. It was later removed from the list in June, after challenging the ban in court.
Lu Jun, chairman and president of Guangzhou Bay Area Semiconductor Industry Group, said that the company will join hands with new and existing shareholders of Gowin to bring more value add to its production, R&D, marketing, and capital operations. Lu said that the investors expect Gowin to play a vital role in the semiconductor industry cluster in southern China’s Greater Bay Area.