YMTC-Backed Fund Bets on FD-SOI: China's EUV-Free Chipmaking Strategy

The Changcun Industry Investment Fund's investment in SOI Micro serves as a strategic, high-profile financial endorsement of FD-SOI technology as a cornerstone of China's plan to build an alternative chipmaking ecosystem that can bypass dependence on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and advanced foreign process nodes.

Why FD-SOI Matters for China

FD-SOI (Fully Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator) is a planar chip technology, not a FinFET design. It can produce low-power, high-performance logic chips using older, more readily available fabrication equipment — crucially, without requiring ASML's EUV machines, which are restricted from export to China. This makes it a geopolitically attractive pathway for domestic chip production .

The Founder with State Credentials

Ye Tianchun, who leads SOI Micro, previously headed the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Microelectronics and served as chief technologist for China's National "02 Project" — a major state initiative to develop domestic chipmaking tools and processes . His leadership signals that the company is a vehicle for national technology goals, not a purely commercial startup.

Extending YMTC's Investment Reach

The Changcun Fund was established in 2023 by YMTC alongside the Hubei Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, a state-backed vehicle. Its previous mandate focused on memory-chip supply-chain players, so this move into FD-SOI logic manufacturing marks a deliberate broadening of China's semiconductor investment strategy .

Capital for Scale

SOI Micro increased its registered capital to 2.53 billion yuan (~$375 million) with the Changcun Fund appearing as a new shareholder. While the exact stake and investment amount were not disclosed, the capital injection is intended to help the company develop and eventually commercialize its low-power logic process .

An Ecosystem Ye Tianchun Has Long Advocated For

Years before founding SOI Micro, Ye Tianchun publicly argued that China's FD-SOI ecosystem needs more engagement from IC design companies to serve as a leapfrogging strategy for the domestic chip industry . The investment directly funds the manufacturing base needed to make that ecosystem viable.

The Bottom Line

The YMTC-backed fund's investment in SOI Micro is not merely a financial transaction. It is a strategic bet on FD-SOI as a viable, EUV-free alternative for China's semiconductor ambitions — backed by a founder with deep state credentials and a fund that is deliberately expanding its technological scope.