Chinese Chip Designer Intchains Follows Nano Labs to US IPO

(CapitalWatch, June 25, New York) Certain Chinese tech stocks have been coming out of the lengthy bad run lately as the regulatory environment has softened, and firms seeking a U.S. listing are jumping in on the opportunity. This week, Intchains Group Ltd., a Chinese chip designer, has filed for an initial public offering in New York worth up to $25 million.

Based in Shanghai, Intchains describes itself as a "provider of integrated solutions consisting of high-performance ASIC chips and ancillary software and hardware for blockchain applications." The company uses a fabless model and claims to have established "strong supply chain management with a leading foundry."

For the full year 2021, Intchains reported $99.1 million revenue on net income of $70.6 million. To compare, for 2020, Intchains recorded $8.2 million in revenue on $1.2 million in income, according to the prospectus.

Intchains said it plans to use the proceeds from its share sale in New York to continued the development of its Xihe and Wangshu platforms.

In addition, the company plans to set up an R&D center in China, Singapore, and other locations and expand its R&D team. It also intends to launch an operating center in Singapore to boost overseas sales. Another portion of the funds will be used to purchase wafers and other raw materials from qualified suppliers, Intchains said in its filing.

The company has applied for a listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "ICG." Maxim Group LLC is underwriting the deal.

The filing by Intchains closely follows a similar application by Nano Labs Ltd. on June 14. Nano Labs designs mining chips and is led by former top managers of rival Canaan Inc. (Nasdaq: CAN), listed since Nov. 2019.