A subsidiary of YF Capital has acquired a 2.1 percent ownership in InnoStar Semiconductor, becoming the company’s 14th biggest investor.
YF Capital, a private equity company supported by Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma Yun, has acquired a minority ownership in a memory chip manufacturer based in Shanghai.InnoStar Semiconductor, as per corporate documents.
The Hainan Yunfeng Fund Centre, a subsidiary of YF Capital, emerged as the chipmaker’s 14th-largest investor following the acquisition of a 2.1 percent ownership, according to a record dated December 17 on the business intelligence website Aiqicha.
The investment came after Ant Groupsupported InnoStar in August. Both YF Capital and Ant were established by Ma, who also created the Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding. Alibaba holds the South China Morning Post.
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Additional new InnoStar shareholders were Real Power Capital, an investment company supported by the Shanghai municipal government, holding 0.4 per cent, and Weihua Electronics, based in Hong Kong, with 0.2 per cent, according to the filing.
YF Capital did not promptly reply to an inquiry for statement on Tuesday.
InnoStar, a local producer of resistive random access memory (ReRAM) chips, which is a form of non-volatile memory providing reduced energy use and quicker data storage, was established in 2019, as per available records.
The firm was also the first in China to manufacture ReRAM chips employing a 28-nanometer process technology.
The Shanghai Alliance Investment, which is controlled by the Shanghai municipal government, continued to be InnoStar’s largest shareholder with a 16.6 percent ownership, according to Aiqicha data, followed by Memris Asia-Pacific, a company based in Hong Kong, holding 15.6 percent.
TikTok owner ByteDance last year invested in InnoStarvia affiliates Picoheart and Beijing Weilai Yinji Technology, securing a total ownership of 13.2 percent.
A spokesperson from ByteDance at that time mentioned the investment was aimed at “utilizing the memory chips manufactured by InnoStar in Pico’s”VR headsets”.
The capital’s shift underscores rising investor attention towards semiconductors, as chips designed on the mainland are becoming more seen as crucial strategically amidUS technology restrictions.
The agreement also coincided with the memory market entering a growth phase, as prices increased and encouraged smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Honor tolift pricesfor certain mobile devices and tablets.
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