Author | Yang Xiao
On January 6, 36 Krypton learned that Zhicun Technology, an integrated storage and computing chip company, announced the completion of the B2 round of financing of 200 million yuan. This round of financing was led by SDIC Venture Capital, followed by Shuimu Chunjin Capital and Linghang New Territories, and Index Capital continued to serve as the exclusive financial advisor. This round of financing will be mainly used for mass production of in-memory computing chips and new product development, expanding the scale of industrialization.
Founded in 2017, Zhicun Technology is a company that 36Kr has been following for a long time. Zhicun Technology has released and mass-produced two generations of storage-computing integrated accelerator WTM1001 and in-memory computing SoC chip WTM2101. In 2022, Zhicun Technology announced in January and September that it had completed the B1 round of financing of 200 million yuan and the B1+ round of financing of 100 million yuan.
With the gradual failure of Moore’s Law, the integrated storage and computing technology that can solve the problems of bandwidth, delay and power consumption caused by the storage wall has shown its advantages, especially in 2022, it will attract the attention of the industry. The discussion around the development of various technical routes has also become one of the hot spots in the industry.
Zhicun Technology is one of the earliest domestic companies engaged in in-memory computing technology and chip research and development, and chose to start from Flash memory. In the past 2022, Zhicun Technology has made rapid progress, and has taken the lead in reaching the stage of chip mass production and specific application.
In March 2022, the in-memory computing SoC chip WTM2101 mass-produced by Zhicun Technology was officially put into the market, and it was officially shipped in May. In less than a year, WTM2101 has been commercialized in TWS earphones, hearing aids, AR glasses, smart home control, etc., providing AI processing solutions such as voice and lightweight video.
Taking the field of hearing aids as an example, the biggest functional demand of consumers for hearing aids is to enhance human voice and promote communication, which can be well realized through artificial intelligence algorithms. Low latency also has high requirements. Zhicun Technology WTM2101 features high computing power, low power consumption, and the advantage of basically controlling the delay within 10 milliseconds, which are the core reasons for attracting and quickly opening the hearing aid market.
Regarding the market advantages of WTM2101, Wang Shaodi, the founder and CEO of Zhicun Technology, told 36 Krypton: “In different fields, the customer needs are different, and the advantages of WTM2101 are also slightly different. For example, in some wearable devices, its advantage is Large computing power, 10-20 times higher than other solutions, and better application effect; such as intercom, smart home and other larger equipment fields, its advantage is low power consumption, not only can miniaturize small equipment, It can also greatly increase the standby time of the device.”
In 2023, Zhicun Technology will expand the application scenarios of WTM 2101 chips, from the current audio field to health equipment, medical equipment, industrial positioning and other scenarios.
Another important chip series of Zhicun Technology, WTM-8 series products, will be launched at the end of 2023 at the earliest. Its computing power will be 500-600 times higher than that of WTM2101. It is mainly used for real-time processing of 4K-8K video. film, and has been recognized by leading customers in many fields, and has signed contracts with customers.
The main application market of WTM-8 is the medium and large computing power scene in the video direction, and the market supplement for the end-side large computing power scene without a good solution before, such as 2D in mobile devices, unmanned devices, XR and handheld devices. And 3D imaging and display, etc.
Taking video as an example, according to Wang Shaodi, as the imaging resolution and frame rate are getting higher and higher, the amount of data and calculations in both 2D and 3D are very high, and conventional chips cannot handle it under the limitation of heat dissipation, while WTM-8 The series of chips can be well completed, and the application scenarios include high-definition imaging, positioning and display applications, etc.
In terms of future product planning for WTM-8, Zhicun Technology will distinguish between dedicated application scenarios and comprehensive scenarios with multiple requirements, and conduct low-profile and high-profile chip research and development.
In addition to chip products, the accumulation of software development tools is also a major progress of Zhicun Technology in the past year. In Wang Shaodi’s view, in the future, application tools for software development will be a core competitiveness for the development of in-memory computing chip companies. In the process of serving customers and applying chips to products, how to efficiently convert customers’ applications to chips Running and successfully implementing transplantation requires a very large workload. Zhicun Technology has accumulated rich experience in the process of implementing WTM2101. According to Wang Shaodi, Zhicun Technology will release a new set of complete chip development tools and IDE environment together with the WTM-8 series chips to help customers do more efficient and convenient development.
Regarding the forecast for 2023, Wang Shaodi said: First, continue to implement the WTM2101 chip in existing scenarios, and second, expand mass-produced products to more application scenarios on the basis of the previous ones. Pass more certainty to the future and bring good signals and changes to the industry.
Investor says:
SDIC Entrepreneurship: As an old shareholder, SDIC Entrepreneurship has witnessed the increasingly deep professional barriers of Zhicun Technology in the field of in-memory computing, the advantages of being the first to implement applications and leading the ecological layout. It is expected that Zhicun Technology can continue to promote the industrialization of in-memory computing and contribute to the high-quality development of the country’s advanced computing industry.
Shuimu Chunjin: In the subversive field of in-memory computing, Zhicun Technology continues to be in a leading position, taking the lead in implementing applications and leading the ecological layout. The innovation and spirit of unity and forge ahead of its core team are also very attractive. We believe that Zhicun Technology can continue to promote the industrialization of in-memory computing and develop high-quality in the country’s advanced computing industry.
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related events
- “Zhicun Technology” completed the B2 round of financing of 200 million yuan, accelerating the commercial integration of storage and calculation2023-01-06
- Zhicun Technology received 100 million yuan in B1+ round financing2022-09-28
- Zhicun Technology completed the B1 round of financing of 200 million yuan, and Pilot New Territories led the investment2022-01-26
- Chip company Zhicun Technology completes series A financing of nearly 300 million yuan2021-06-10
- Chip design company “Zhicun Technology” completed a round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan2019-08-06
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