Text: Lieyunjingxuan (WeChat ID: lieyunjingxuan Lieyun Selection).
In the previous context, Shuimu Wutong Venture Capital did not take the initiative to speak out, which is also in line with its mission of discovering greatness and accompanying loneliness.
Just like the mission of Mizuki Wutong, entrepreneurship is often lonely, and investment institutions must be able to understand this loneliness in order to achieve greatness. In the past 10 years since its establishment, the Shuimu Wutong team has moved from first-class and semi-investment, incubation investment, to science and technology investment, precipitated a unique set of scientific and technological innovation investment logic, and embarked on a path of its own value investment.
Focusing on the investment in the field of hard science and technology with semiconductors as the core, Shuimu Wutong has successfully invested in the key nodes of the integrated circuit industry chain, covering multiple subdivisions such as semiconductor key materials, core equipment, industrial software systems, integrated circuit design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, and terminal applications, and has also realized the horizontal extension to the fields of new energy, life sciences and artificial intelligence.
Some of the outstanding investment cases of Mizuki Sycamore include:Didao Microelectronics, Xinwang Microelectronics, Shenzhen Tianwei, Jingtong Technology, Shiyu Precision, Shangyang Software, Xinrate Intelligence, Fourier Semiconductor, Pantuo Technology, Yunchu New Energy, Jichu Energy, Changyao Innovation and Huakong Zhijiaand other enterprises.
According to IDC, the global semiconductor market revenue in 2023 was raised from $518.8 billion to $526.5 billion, and the revenue forecast for 2024 was also raised from $625.9 billion to $632.8 billion. By next year, global semiconductor revenue will increase by 20% year-on-year2%。
Wang Zhao, managing partner of Shuimu Wutong Venture Capital, told Lieyun.com:Semiconductor integrated circuit Mizuki Wutong important investment track, it is related to the future of China, we will persevere, rooted in semiconductor integrated circuits and related industry investment.
In December 2023, the Dubai office of Shuimu Sycamore Venture Capital was set up, betting on the investment and financing opportunities of technology companies in the Middle East, and not missing the new growth engine of the Gulf region.
Wang Zhao told Lieyun.com that most of the core partners of Shuimu Wutong Venture Capital graduated from Tsinghua University, and they were able to take the lead in accessing the scientific research achievements of colleges and universities, which provided a strong guarantee for the company's project reserves. At the same time, it also includes compound teams such as industrial background talents and front-line R&D personnel.
In terms of project exit and the best rate of return, Shuimu Wutong has a more optimistic and reliable expectation, and a number of invested companies have started the IPO listing process, such as Xinwang Microelectronics has submitted an application for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, Shiyu Precision and Shenzhen Tianwei are also in the preparation stage of listing materials, and many companies have entered the follow-up round of financing.
In the face of the current economic environment under pressure, the overseas market and the domestic market have seen a deviation from the reality and market expectations, all institutions are in the winter, on the one hand, to raise funds for more grain and grass, on the other hand, the investment is more prudent and rational, has entered the track desperately defending, waiting for a good opportunity.
The Mizuki Sycamore Venture Capital team believes that the global economy and technology are facing major changes unseen in a centuryTo grasp the structural trend or the key to investment, we should focus on investment opportunities such as artificial intelligence, AI, low-carbon transformation, and the integration and adjustment of the global ** chain brought about by geopolitical differentiation。Among them, in the field of pan-semiconductor and electronic information, from the perspective of global experience, the society is accepting new technologies and things that can bring about major changes faster and faster, and the poor perception of new things often contains huge investment opportunities.
Q: How is the investment focus of Mizuki Wutong Venture Capital in semiconductors and integrated circuits, new energy, new materials, intelligent manufacturing, and medical health established and practiced?
a：In 2013, Shuimu Wutong was incorporated, and has been doing incubation investment in the primary and semi-market before that, accumulating some experience. Around 2017, seeing that Internet investment has entered a bottleneck period, domestic VCs are investing in Internet consumption and the Internet industry, and the "cake" has been basically carved up, and the opportunities for many subdivided industries no longer exist.
At the same time, during the Trump period in the United States, there has been a phenomenon of Sino-US science and technology confrontation sanctions, whether it is a war or a technology embargo, giving domestic science and technology enterprises the opportunity to innovate independently.
Q: What is the current return in the portfolio, and has you built an investment ecosystem? What will you continue to do in the future?
a：For example, in the field of key materials, the layout of photoresist company Didao Micro, in the integrated circuit design link layout of automotive MCU chip company Xinwang Micro, in the field of advanced packaging layout of Jingtong Technology and Shiyu Precision, in the field of semiconductor yield management layout of the layout of the software and Zhongyi Cloud, etc., it can be said that the formation of the whole chain of the field of integrated circuits of the closed loop, the invested companies have product and business needs, They are potential customers and businessmen with each other, and the initial construction of the ecosystem has been realized.
At present, a number of invested companies have started the IPO listing process, such as Xinwang Microelectronics has submitted an application for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, Shiyu Precision and Shenzhen Tianwei are also in the preparation stage of listing materials, and many companies have entered the follow-up round of financing, and their valuations have also achieved varying degrees.
In the new year, we will adhere to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements as the main axis, the specific application landing scenarios as the guidance, focus on structural innovation opportunities, pay attention to efficiency improvement, domestic substitution, multi-technology integration and other themes, focus on semiconductors, new materials, new energy, intelligent manufacturing, life sciences and other fields of early-stage project investment opportunities, in addition to the financial indicators are clear, the exit expectations are clear, the capitalization path is clear and feasible in the middle and late stage of the stable projects also make some layout.
Q: What is the investment logic of 10 years of precipitation of Mizuki Sycamore? When studying the subdivisions, how to go deeper, and what are the unique insights and methods?
a：First, Shuimu Wutong investment at both ends, one end is to invest in early enterprises with imagination and market development space, focusing on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, there are landing scenarios, commercial expectations, scientific principles and technical processes are relatively mature early companies; At the other end of the spectrum is a sound financial investment, i.e., with a clear listing expectation and a definite financial return.
Second, in terms of investment team, Tsinghua University has more partners with academic backgrounds, as well as front-line R&D personnel from the industry, not only pure financial investors, but compound teams.
Third: do not follow the crowd, go deep into the industry research, and really find out the entrepreneurial team that is strong in scientific principles and technical processes.
Fourth: investment in the industrial chain, in the field of integrated circuits, from the front-end to the back-end, from equipment to software to consumables, etc., all need in-depth research and investment.
Q: What are the advantages of Mizuki Sycamore in the field of early-stage investment and hard technology investment?
a：First, the project source advantage: the current hard science and technology entrepreneurship, most of them are doctors, professors, academicians entrepreneurship, that is, the elite entrepreneurship stage, especially in the early stage of scientific research, to be very clear China's top science and engineering universities, in these universities, scientific research, industry top professors, domestic and foreign development, academic frontiers and trends, etc., must be familiar with and be the first to contact.
Second, the scientific principles and technical applications should be mature and able to be commercialized on a large scale. Basic applied science and academic research are necessary, mature technical principles, mature scientific principles, mature technology applications, and can control costs, can be commercialized on a large scale, is the focus of investment in scientific research projects.
q：What do you think about the bubble of hard tech investment? Is it similar to the TMT bubble a few years ago?
a：The hard technology investment bubble is not exactly similar to the previous Internet investment bubble, and to a certain extent, the technology embargo and sanctions in the United States have brought the valuation of many technology companies to rise relatively quickly. At the same time, the R&D cycle of technology companies may take longer to a certain extent, and even be a zero-sum event to a certain extent.
Q: In the key areas of Mizuki Wutong investment, what kind of entrepreneurs will you be optimistic about and what characteristics do you need to have?
a：First, with R&D and innovation capabilities, but also with strong enterprise management capabilities and resource sorting capabilities, not too academic, not too market.
Second, a firm entrepreneurial determination and tenacious will. Hard technology is a long-cycle industry, and the road is long, and founders need enough patience and perseverance and indomitable entrepreneurial enthusiasm.
Third, while having lofty ideals, we must also have business sensitivity, not too much pursuit of perfection, to be down-to-earth, to reasonably plan the pace of financing, product development and commercialization, and to have a strong ability to adapt to market changes.
Q: The uncertainty of the current environment (economic cycle and difficulty in fundraising), the layout and thinking of Mizuki Sycamore? So what factors will make the market industry hot again?
a：After the epidemic, for everyone, it is equivalent to standing at the starting line again. For institutions, the issue of fundraising is not an overnight problem, the key is whether they can turn the crisis into an opportunity in this industry cycle. In addition to persistence, in the development of the general environment to the current cycle, we must have full confidence: more than 40 years of opening-up, our population of more than 1.4 billion basic market has achieved a per capita GDP of more than 10,000 US dollars and high-quality market, in addition to our world-class infrastructure and industrial categories, huge volume of high-quality front-line industrial workers, the world's largest number of university graduates, and a strong and stable political environment, these are the unique advantages and foundations that our country has on this planet. At the same time, it is also the confidence for us to firmly go long in China**.
Q: What are the key investment priorities in 2023 and the key investment directions and markets in 2024?
a：In 2023, Mizuki Sycamore Venture Capital will make 9 public investments, including:Anyu Aixin, Jingtong Technology MSTECH, Fourier Semiconductor, Changyao Innovation, Xinrate Intelligence, Cloud Storage New Energy, Huakong Zhijiaand other projects, invested in chip manufacturing, artificial intelligence, life and health and other industries.
At the same time, grasp the structural trends or investment keys, and focus on investment opportunities such as artificial intelligence, AI, low-carbon transformation, and the integration and adjustment of the global ** chain brought about by geopolitical differentiation. Artificial intelligence (AI) combined with the computing power needs of the digital economy technology base, such as the long-term growth support of GPUs and AI chips, AI has brought empowerment and transformation to all walks of life. In addition, compared with U.S. stocks, this year's outstanding performance is semiconductor, equipment and other hardware companies, and software services, information technology field still has a large space, from this investment perspective, we believe that artificial intelligence AI led by pan-semiconductors and integrated circuits, systems and industrial software are sustainable investment themes.
In the field of energy and low-carbon transition,The transition to net zero is already a globally agreed trend。According to the IEA, the amount of global green investment will reach 2$1 trillion, compared with the 2015 investment scale doubled, this trend driven by related investment opportunities worthy of continuous attention and layout. In addition, innovative battery technology paths, electric vehicles that are expected to help China overtake in corners, autonomous driving industry chain, power supply and demand, and flexible transformation and upgrading of power grids are all potential investment layouts.