Another unicorn in the automotive-grade chip industry is knocking on the door of the A-share market.
Recently, Calterah Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Calterah”) formally submitted its prospectus to the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market. This company, which emerged from a Berkeley laboratory and focuses on automotive-grade millimeter-wave radar chips, is set to enter the capital market, planning to raise 3.489 billion yuan.
As a benchmark for import substitution, Calterah broke the decades-long monopoly of international giants by adopting the CMOS technology route. In 2025, it held a 31.1% market share for domestic automotive millimeter-wave radar chips, ranking second in China and fourth globally. Its cumulative shipments exceeded 30 million units, with clients including BYD, Geely, NIO, and Volvo.
Since its founding twelve years ago, the company has also completed 11 rounds of intensive financing. Major investors such as the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II (Big Fund II), Walden International, Gopher Asset, GAC Capital, Shanghai Pudong Venture Capital, Silergy, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Investment, and the Greater Bay Area Technology Innovation Fund have all joined, valuing the company at over 10 billion yuan.
The Berkeley Mentor-Student Duo "Bet" Right
The story of Calterah began in 2014.
After obtaining a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley, the 30-year-old Jiashu Chen returned to China, determined to start a business in Shanghai, focusing on millimeter-wave radar. During his time in the U.S., Chen led a team in developing the world's first 60GHz WiGig CMOS SoC chip, received the Fulbright Science and Technology Award from the U.S. State Department, and was the only Chinese student among the 27 awardees that year.
At that time, China's automotive industry was on the verge of an intelligence explosion, but core components like millimeter-wave radar chips were entirely controlled by international giants such as Texas Instruments, NXP, and Infineon, with a domestic substitution rate close to zero.
He also recruited his mentor—Professor Ali Niknejad, director of the Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC)—to co-found the company. The company was named "Calterah," with "CAL" paying homage to Berkeley and "TERAH" derived from Terahertz.
This mentor-student duo chose a path different from the mainstream. The industry's common practice was to use gallium arsenide or silicon-germanium processes for multi-chip assembly solutions, which were stable in performance but costly and had low integration. Calterah bet on the CMOS process from the start due to its low cost and high integration, though its performance in high-frequency bands had long been doubted as insufficient for automotive-grade applications.
Many thought the Berkeley Ph.D.s might be too idealistic. But time proved their bet was right.
In 2015, just one year after its founding, Calterah taped out the world's first fully integrated 77GHz radar transceiver single-chip. In 2017, it mass-produced Yosemite, the world's first automotive-grade CMOS process 77GHz millimeter-wave radar RF front-end chip, making the first breakthrough in domestic millimeter-wave radar chips. In 2019, it integrated antennas into the package, launching the 77/60GHz millimeter-wave radar AiP SoC chip, further lowering the design threshold for radar modules. In 2024, it introduced the Kunlun platform, primarily based on the domestic supply chain.
The real power of the CMOS route lies in cost. Traditional gallium arsenide-based radar modules cost hundreds of dollars, affordable only for million-dollar luxury cars. The CMOS single-chip solution slashed costs to a fraction, turning millimeter-wave radar from an exclusive feature for luxury cars into a standard feature for family cars priced around 100,000 yuan. In other words, Calterah not only achieved import substitution but also expanded the entire market.
By 2025, Calterah held a 31.1% domestic market share, ranking fourth globally, with cumulative shipments exceeding 30 million units, partnerships with over 30 automakers, and coverage of more than 300 vehicle models. Its domestic client list is extensive: BYD, Geely, Changan, Chery, NIO, and Leapmotor. Interestingly, it also penetrated the European market, becoming the first domestic supplier of millimeter-wave radar chips for two leading Tier1 global platforms, with its products entering Volvo and Rivian vehicles. Before this, it was almost unimaginable for domestic automotive-grade chips to enter the front-end supply chain of overseas OEMs.
Valuation Reaches 10 Billion Yuan After 11 Rounds of Financing
Since its founding, Calterah has completed a total of 11 rounds of financing. The investor lineup is impressive, encompassing nearly all notable institutions in the chip sector: Big Fund II, CICC Capital, Walden International, Gopher Asset, GAC Capital, Shanghai Pudong Venture Capital, Silergy, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Investment, and the Greater Bay Area Technology Innovation Fund.
The earliest investor was Silergy, which participated in the angel round in November 2015. At that time, Calterah had just completed the first 77GHz chip tape-out, and the company's registered capital was only 50,000 yuan. As of the signing date of the prospectus, Silergy remains a significant shareholder. From 50,000 yuan in registered capital to a valuation of 10 billion yuan, the twelve-year journey has been a long road in the capital market.
Subsequently, the pace of financing accelerated year by year:
In 2017, Series A funding saw participation from FreesFund and Zhongguancun Xingye Investment;
In 2019, Series B financing was completed with follow-on investments from CICC Capital, Shaanxi Hongchuang, China Renaissance Capital, CM Mobile Innovation Industry Fund, and Gaolishengzhu, among others;
In July 2020, a strategic round brought in Shangqi Capital, GAC Capital, and Nest.Bio Ventures;
In September 2021, Series C financing was led by SDIC Unity Capital, with participation from Langmafeng Venture Capital, BOCOM International, and China Renaissance New Economy Fund, raising several hundred million yuan;
In January 2022, Series C+ funding continued with injections from Fosun Capital, China Merchants Capital, Gopher Asset, Yinggang Capital, and Junton Capital.
In July 2024, Series D financing was led by the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II (Big Fund II), with participation from Guoxin Venture Capital, Fujian Venture Capital, SDIC Unity Capital, Walden International, and others, raising several hundred million yuan.
The financing pace was particularly intense during the reporting period.
In the January 2025 capital increase, Big Fund II contributed 50 million yuan, Shanghai Guoxin invested 49 million yuan, Advanced Manufacturing Phase II invested 30 million yuan, Chuangxinchuangke invested 20 million yuan, and Hong Kong Ziteng invested $1 million, totaling approximately 179 million yuan. In September 2025, the E1 round saw investments from Lingyinqu Fund, Zhangke Yaokun, Ruishi Phase IX, Greater Bay Area Fund, and others, totaling 208 million yuan. In the 2026 E2 round, Huaxin Dingxin solely invested 300 million yuan, while China Media Group Convergence Media, Ruishi Phase VII, and Guofengtou Xinzhi each invested 100 million yuan, raising about 955 million yuan in a single round. These three rounds combined raised approximately 1.34 billion yuan.
Among these, in the E2 round, Huaxin Dingxin acquired 3.63% of shares for 300 million yuan, implying a valuation of about 8.26 billion yuan. For this IPO, the company plans to raise 3.489 billion yuan by issuing no less than 25% of shares, which translates to an issuance valuation of approximately 14 billion yuan. This means that institutions entering in the E2 round less than a year ago have seen a paper profit of about 70%.
Parallel to the intensive equity financing, there has also been significant secondary share transfers.
Between September 2025 and March 2026, 23 new shareholders, including Lingyinqu Fund, Huaxin Dingxin, and China Media Group Convergence Media, concentrated their investments by subscribing to new shares or acquiring existing shares. The price for new share subscriptions was uniformly 292.25 yuan per share, while the price for secondary share transfers ranged from 176.99 yuan to 287.93 yuan per share.
Jiashu Chen directly holds 12.1376% of shares and indirectly controls 20.8730% through Nanchang Silicon Venture, giving him combined control over 33.0106% of voting rights, making him the actual controller. No single shareholder holds over 30% of shares. Such highly dispersed ownership is not uncommon among STAR Market chip companies. Additionally, Big Fund II holds 0.6266%, a proportion not high. However, the symbolic significance of having state-backed investors far outweighs the financial aspect.
Not Yet Profitable, All Funds Burned on R&D
From the data, Calterah's growth momentum is indeed rapid.
From 2023 to 2025, operating revenue grew from 206 million yuan to 303 million yuan, then to 632 million yuan, with a three-year compound annual growth rate of 75.28%. In 2025 alone, revenue more than doubled, with a year-on-year increase of 108.44%. In the first quarter of 2026, single-quarter revenue was 154 million yuan, with automotive millimeter-wave chips contributing over 99% of the income.
But the flip side of high growth is continuous losses.
From 2023 to 2025, net profit attributable to shareholders was -323 million yuan, -334 million yuan, and -193 million yuan, respectively; in the first quarter of 2026, it lost another 60.28 million yuan. Cumulative losses over three and a half years exceeded 900 million yuan. As of the end of March 2026, the accumulated unrecovered losses amounted to 172 million yuan.
All this money has been spent on R&D.
In the automotive-grade chip industry, long R&D cycles, stringent verification standards, and supply chain qualification processes with automakers often taking three to four years are the norm, making it inherently capital-intensive. During the reporting period, Calterah's cumulative R&D investment exceeded 1.039 billion yuan. In 2023, R&D expenses were 304 million yuan, 1.5 times its revenue that year. By 2025, this ratio dropped to 58.55%, still high. As of March 2026, the company had 275 R&D personnel, accounting for 65.63% of the total workforce, meaning two-thirds of the employees are engaged in R&D. With R&D investment consistently exceeding revenue, temporary losses were almost inevitable.
However, the gross margin is not low. The gross margins for the main business during the reporting periods were 47.80%, 43.81%, 47.25%, and 48.97%, respectively, consistently higher than the average level of domestic peers. This indicates that the products themselves are profitable, but all the profits are consumed by R&D expenses.
Objectively speaking, the company's losses are narrowing. The 2025 loss of 193 million yuan was 42% less than the 334 million yuan loss in 2024. Operating cash flow also improved from -249 million yuan in 2024 to -18 million yuan in 2025, nearing breakeven. The inflection point for profitability appears to be approaching.
But whether this inflection point truly arrives depends on two variables.
The first variable is customers. The proportion of revenue from the top five customers during the reporting periods was as high as 99.77%, 99.07%, 99.90%, and 99.97%, respectively. In 2025, sales to the largest end customer, BYD, accounted for over 50% of revenue. The prospectus frankly states that since 2026, due to downstream OEMs adopting supply chain diversification strategies such as introducing second suppliers, revenue from this customer has shown signs of sustained pressure. This might indicate that BYD has started comparing suppliers. The qualification cycle for new automotive-grade chip customers can take three to four years. If a core customer reduces purchases, revenue could shrink significantly.
The second variable is the supply chain. The procurement proportion from the top five suppliers increased from 54.50% in 2023 to 80.16% in Q1 2026, with the procurement share from one major supplier rising from 37.20% to 58.68%. The proportion of overseas procurement remained above 50% in each reporting period, and reliance on overseas suppliers persists for EDA tools and some interface IP.
Both customer concentration and supply chain concentration pose risks. This is also why Calterah must go public—it needs sufficient funds to expand production, diversify customers, and reduce dependencies.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Dongsi Shitiao Capital" (ID: DsstCapital), author: Li Man.
