China Chip Startup Biren Seeking Funds at $2.7 Billion Valuation

(Bloomberg) -- Chip designer Shanghai Biren Intelligent Technology Co. is seeking to raise fresh funds at a valuation of about 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) to fuel its growth, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Never Had Covid? You May Hold Key To Beating the Virus

• Biden Team Weighs a Massive Release of Oil to Combat Inflation

• Putin ‘Misinformed’ by Advisers on the War, White House Says

• Apple and Meta Gave User Data to Hackers Who Used Forged Legal Requests

• Ukraine Update: Talks With Russia May Resume Friday, Kyiv Says

Biren wants as much as 2 billion yuan and is working with advisers to gauge the interest of strategic and financial investors, the people said, asking not to be named as the matter is private. Discussions are ongoing and the fundraising target and valuation could still change, they said.

“As we are in the middle of the fundraising, we are not able to comment on the specifics of the deal,” the company said, adding it will disclose details publicly when it can.

Founded in 2019, Biren is among a slew of upstarts that China is betting on as it tries to become a chip powerhouse and reduce its reliance on U.S. technology. The company focuses on areas such as graphics processing units, cloud computing and integrated solutions, according to its website.

Allen Lee, the former head of the Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s research and development center in China, joined Biren last year as co-chief executive officer overseeing organization, management and product design.

The startup raised 4.7 billion yuan in 18 months from investors including IDG Capital, GL Ventures, Ping An Insurance Group Co., China Merchants Capital, CITIC Securities Investment Co. and Bertelsmann Asia Investments AG, among other backers, its website shows.

In October, Biren co-led an angel investment round into Shanghai-based YunSilicon, a smaller peer that designs cloud data center network chips, according to YunSilicon’s website.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Is Occidental the Megadeal Warren Buffett’s Been Waiting For?

• The Can’t-Lose Betting Strategy That’s Taking the Gamble Out of Sports Gambling

• The Vultures Are Coming for Russian Debt

• Putin’s Old Ally in the EU Faces Tough Vote as War Rages Next Door

• Profits Soar as U.S. Corporations Have Best Year Since 1950

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.