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Semiconductors
Tech

Semiconductor software design start-up X-Epic secures US$30mn in new investment amid China’s ongoing self-reliance drive

  • X-Epic, a rising star in China’s EDA industry, has raised an estimated US$60 million this year
  • China is trying to chip away at US dominance of the semiconductor industry, starting with EDA tools critical to designing integrated circuits

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China has been pushing for self-reliance in designing and producing semiconductors, but it is estimated to be behind by five to 10 years. Photo: Shutterstock
Che Panin Beijing

X-Epic, a newcomer in critical semiconductor design software, has raised more than 200 million yuan (US$30.6 million) in a new Series A round of fundraising, the company announced on Tuesday. The company’s third round of investment this year comes at a critical time as China seeks self-reliance in the semiconductor industry amid trade restrictions on related US-origin technologies.

X-Epic, which stands for “accelerating EDA pioneer innovation centre”, makes electronic design automation (EDA) software, an important set of software tools used by chip designers, an area currently dominated by three US companies – Cadence, Synopsys and Mentor Graphics. X-Epic was founded by a former Cadence engineer in March and is based in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province.

With the new funding, X-Epic has raised an estimated US$60 million this year following two other investment rounds that closed in October and November, according to statistics from PitchBook, which tracks deals in private capital markets.

“X-Epic was founded less than a year ago, and it is already receiving enormous recognition from the market and industry,” Wang Libin, founder and CEO of X-Epic, said in a statement released on the company’s official WeChat account. He added that the company is speeding up the development of “EDA 2.0” technologies for the digital economy, making designing chips easier and lowering technical barriers.

Semiconductors is one of the most critical pieces of technology in which China lags behind the US. China is estimated to be roughly five to 10 years behind the cutting edge of companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), but the domestic sector is attracting heavy investment even though some analysts think an independent approach to the industry is doomed to failure.

The Chinese capital market’s appetite for the once-niche semiconductor industry has been awakened by a state-led drive towards self-reliance in so-called core technologies.

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