On January 14,2022, ASR Microelectronics Co. Ltd (STAR: 688220) was listed on the SSE STAR Market, becoming the first IPO among West Fountain portfolio companies to go public in 2022, and the sixth listed company since the fund establishment.

Established in 2015, ASR is a consumer chip developer with a rare platform chip design enterprise with full standard cellular baseband communication technology in China. ASR is one of the few enterprises in China that combines 5G, AI and other technologies at the same time. Focusing on the R&D and technological innovation of wireless communication chips, the ASR has the R&D and design strength of full-standard cellular baseband chips and multi-protocol non-cellular IoT chips, as well as the ability to provide large-scale and high-speed SOC customization and semiconductor IP authorization services. ASR's chip products have been successfully sold on a large scale, and chip customization and IP authorization are a big part of its success. ASR is expected to cut into the field of smart phone baseband chips from the field of IoT chips, with broad long-term growth space.

The value and prospect of growth for ASR is being recognized by secondary market investors. Since the opening of subscription, ASR has raised 6.883 billion RMB and has a current market value of approximately 68.827 billion RMB. ASR has become the semiconductor company with the second highest IPO fundraising in the history of A-share after SMIC, and the chip design enterprise with the highest IPO fundraising in the history of A-share.
West Fountain and Shenzhen Capital Group Co.(“SCGC”), Ltd. took the lead investment in the Series A financing of ASR in 2017 and in 2018, West Fountain continued to take the lead in Series B financing of ASR. Other investors in the ASR financings included Alibaba, IDG, Walden, Xiaomi, Sequoia and Hillhouse Capital.

Ms. Li Li, Chief Partner of West Fountain, when invited to deliver a speech in the IPO ceremony, stated “the semiconductor enterprises in 2018 were not as sought after by the funds as they are now. West Fountain dared to take the lead in both the Series A and Series B, investing twice, mainly because we strongly believed in the founder of ASR, Chairman Tai and his managemnent team. We have always adhered to the principle of ‘always invest in the team’. It is precisely this excellent team who made ASR, the semiconductor design company that raised the largest capital in China’s stock market! We firmly believe that today's listing of ASR is only the starting point and expect ASR to soar in the sky like an eagle. It has the potential to become China's Qualcomm, setting its sight on a global scale, and become a great enterprise in China's semiconductor industry.