(Yicai Global) April 14 -- Cheng Taiyi, former chief executive of Chinese fabless supplier GigaDevice Semiconductor, will lead automotive chip unicorn SemiDrive Technology as its new CEO.

Cheng will be responsible for strategy, operations, and management of the smart driving chip company, the Nanjing-based firm said in a statement today.

The startup has been expanding on the back of the autonomous driving boom. In November 2022, SemiDrive bagged nearly CNY1 billion (USD145.9 million) in its Series B+ of financing, jointly led by Pro Capital’s China Development Bank Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Investment Fund and V Fund. BOC International and Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center Equity Investment Fund also participated in the fundraising.

After the new appointment, Zhang Qiang and Qiu Yujing, two co-founders of SemiDrive, will wear the hats of chief marketing officer and chief operating officer. Zhang will be responsible for strategic market development and sales management. Qiu, who used to be the CEO, will be in charge of product research and development.

Cheng was invited to join the company, SemiDrive disclosed. The firm should have broad insights and gather the best talents to become a first-class chip designer in the world, the two co-founders said.

Cheng, who graduated from Tsinghua University with a degree in electronic engineering, founded optical fingerprint chip designer Silead in 2011. In 2019, GigaDevice acquired Silead with a valuation of CNY1.7 billion (USD248 million), up by more than 1,900 percent. Cheng, who became GigaDevice’s CEO, resigned in November 2022.

Cheng has a technical background and he was on the front line of research and development at Silead, participating in architecture design, circuit building, and core algorithm development, according to industry insiders.

Even the former CEO has an impressive resume. Qiu has been working in the chip industry for more than 20 years, including 10 years of entrepreneurial experience in Silicon Valley, Yicai Global learned. In June 2022, Forbes added Qiu to the list of 50 Chinese Women in Tech 2022.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi