The Nanshan District Government recently established a fund for “little giant” enterprises, with the first batch of investment worth 500 million yuan (US$74.3 million).

Qianhai-based Erised Semiconductor Corp. became the first enterprise to be funded July 7, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

A “little giant” refers to a company that typically specializes in niche sectors, commands high market shares and boasts strong innovative capacity. The move marks the founding of Nanshan’s first private equity for technologically advanced small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Erised Semiconductor Corp., China’s leading display driver chips enterprise, is beefing up investments in R&D in AMO LED and Micro LED and aims to become a “little giant” in a bid to help increase the worldwide market share of domestic product display driver chips.

The district government has been working full steam ahead to build an innovative community gathering the government, innovation platforms, investment institutions and scientific innovative projects.

To help solve difficulties innovation companies face in raising capital in all stages of their business growth, from startup to succession, Nanshan is providing them with a wide range of financial services.

Platforms and funds to validate a startup’s scalable business model, as well as a pilot test, have been set up to support scientific technology projects in Nanshan. This is to survive the so-called “death valley curve,” a crucial early phase of new ventures. The first batch of firms to receive such funds June 9 are Weiling Medical, Deep Eco and Yisu Technology.

The fresh “little giant” fund launched by Nanshan SEI Investment, a solely State-owned company, focuses on 20 strategic emerging sectors and eight industries of the future, as well as strategically emerging industrial clusters of Nanshan, such as telecommunications, semiconductors, and intelligent terminals and sensors.

In June, six Chinese ministries jointly issued a guideline, saying that by 2025, the nation aims to develop 10,000 “little giant” enterprises.

Nanshan is now home to 47 “little giants” at the national level, accounting for 28% of the city’s total, and 193 provincial-level “little giants,” accounting for 22% of the city’s total in the category.

Nanshan is expected to constitute a seeding fund for youths in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, establish a technology bank and build a service platform for the industrial supply chain in the future.

It has also positioned Xili Lake International Science and Education City as a venture capital destination, Shenzhen Bay as a wealth management center and Qianhai as Hong Kong-Shenzhen international financial area, according to the Nanshan government.

In 2021, Nanshan’s GDP reached 763 billion yuan, up 9.1% year on year. The district gathers over 4,300 national high and new tech enterprises and 195 listed companies while aiming to increase the number of “little giants” to 80 this year.