【Premiering March 19】Beyond "Chokepoint" Tech: The Imagination and Explosive Potential of Technology Entrepreneurship

峰瑞资本·March 17, 2023

See you Sunday morning~

This Sunday, March 19 at 9:30 AM, the third session of "Trends 2023 — FreeS Fund China-US Venture Capital Summit" goes live: "Beyond 'Chokepoint' Tech: The Imagination and Explosive Potential of Technology Entrepreneurship." Xiaochen Sun, co-founder and CTO of LuminWave, and Xialou Lou, co-founder of YuanGui Materials Technology, will join Yongcheng Yang, partner at FreeS Fund, for a deep dive into innovation opportunities in hard tech. Topics on the table include autonomous driving, sensors, semiconductor materials, electronic specialty gases, AR glasses, and more.

Tap the reservation button below to book your spot — you'll get a push notification when we go live. Just enter the channel at 9:30 AM sharp on Sunday.

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What They'll Discuss

Autonomous Driving and Sensors

Is LiDAR essential for autonomous driving, or are cameras alone sufficient?
Plenty of startups have already staked claims in LiDAR — is there still room for new entrants?
How to understand the formula: "market demand + technological innovation/generational shift = tech startup opportunity"?

Semiconductor Materials and Electronic Specialty Gases

What's the current state of the electronic specialty gas and ALD markets? (ALD stands for atomic layer deposition, a technique that offers new solutions for semiconductor fabrication precision bottlenecks.)
Under the "chokepoint" pressure on the semiconductor industry, what impacts and entrepreneurial opportunities emerge? How specifically are chip-level materials companies affected?
What new trends are shaping semiconductors and semiconductor materials?
How to gauge the temperature of the semiconductor and chip sector — will this year be better than last?

New Consumer Electronics Opportunities & AR

How to read today's consumer electronics market? Will AR prove to be a viable business?

The Imagination of Technology

What other technologies, controversial or uncertain now, might have breakout potential down the line?

Entrepreneurial Lessons

Both founders studied at Harvard and MIT before returning to China to start companies — how did they think through that decision?
What lessons, gains, and pitfalls have they encountered along the way?

How to Watch

You can also catch the livestream on 36Kr, Baidu, and Cailianshe:

On 36Kr's livestream channel, via the "Feng Xiaorui" studio on the channel homepage
In the Baidu app, search for "FreeS Fund Official"
In the Cailianshe app, search for "FreeS Fund China-US Venture Capital Summit"

Guest Bios

Xiaochen Sun, co-founder and CTO of LuminWave. He holds a B.S. in Physics from Peking University and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT. A researcher and doctoral advisor, he has 15+ years in silicon photonics research and 10+ years in R&D management, with 50+ papers published in leading international journals and conferences, 5,000+ citations, and multiple papers ranking in the global top 1% for citations in their field. He holds 30+ granted patents and monographs domestically and abroad, and has led R&D projects totaling hundreds of millions of RMB. A recipient of multiple talent honors, he was named to the 2022 Scientist-Entrepreneur Pioneer List.

Xialou Lou, co-founder of Shanghai YuanGui Technology. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Fudan University's elite science program and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University, where he studied under National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering member Professor Roy Gordon. He co-founded YuanGui Technology in 2020, focused on solving "chokepoint" challenges in semiconductor nanofilm materials. He has received honors including Zhejiang Province Overseas Innovation Talent.

Moderator: Yongcheng Yang, partner at FreeS Fund. He focuses on deep tech investments and led or participated in early-stage investments in Shenzhen Licheng, LuminWave, Borui Microelectronics, YuanGui Technology, and Aipai Core Research, among others.

Before joining FreeS Fund, Yang was General Manager of Baidu's Hardware Ecosystem Channel Division, overseeing product design, mass production, e-commerce buildout, and channel expansion. He previously served as VP at Xiaomi, where he led the audio product line and founded the smart speaker technology and product team; and as VP of R&D and GM of the Mobile Division at Access. He holds a B.S. in Radio Electronics and Information Systems from Peking University.