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Coco Feng

YF Capital, a private equity firm backed by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma Yun, has taken a minority stake in Shanghai-based memory chip developer InnoStar Semiconductor, according to corporate records.
Hainan Yunfeng Fund Centre, an affiliate of YF Capital, became the chipmaker’s 14th-largest shareholder after acquiring a 2.1 per cent stake, based on a change record dated December 17 on business information platform Aiqicha.
The investment came after Ant Group backed InnoStar in August. Both YF Capital and Ant were founded by Ma, who also founded Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Other new InnoStar shareholders included Real Power Capital, an investment firm backed by the Shanghai municipal government, which held 0.4 per cent, and Hong Kong-based Weihua Electronics, with 0.2 per cent, the filing showed.
YF Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
InnoStar – a domestic developer of resistive random access memory (ReRAM) chips, a type of non-volatile memory that offers lower power consumption and faster data retention – was founded in 2019, according to public information.

The company was also the first in China to produce ReRAM chips using a 28-nanometre process technology.
Shanghai Alliance Investment, owned by the Shanghai municipal government, remained InnoStar’s biggest shareholder with a 16.6 per cent stake, followed by Hong Kong-incorporated Memris Asia-Pacific, with 15.6 per cent, Aiqicha data showed.
TikTok owner ByteDance last year invested in InnoStar through affiliates Picoheart and Beijing Weilai Yinji Technology, acquiring a combined 13.2 per cent shareholding.
A ByteDance representative at the time said the investment was made “in hopes of utilising the memory chips produced by InnoStar in Pico’s VR headsets”.
Capital’s move highlighted growing investor interest in semiconductors as mainland-designed chips are increasingly viewed as strategically important amid US technology restrictions.
The deal also came as the memory market entered an upcycle, with prices rising and prompting smartphone brands including Xiaomi and Honor to lift prices for some phones and tablets.


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Tech

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China Future Tech

A YF Capital affiliate has taken a 2.1 per cent stake in InnoStar Semiconductor, making it the chipmaker’s 14th largest shareholder.


Jack Ma

Yunfeng Financial Group

Ant Group

ByteDance

Jack Ma-backed YF Capital takes stake in Shanghai memory chipmaker InnoStar

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A YF Capital affiliate has taken a 2.1 per cent stake in InnoStar Semiconductor, making it the chipmaker’s 14th largest shareholder.

A YF Capital affiliate has taken a 2.1 per cent stake in InnoStar Semiconductor, making it the chipmaker’s 14th largest shareholder.