Author: Zhang Yao
Few companies are so candid about their losses.
This week, the AI chip Unicorn Cambrian science and technology board listing application was approved. With the disclosure of the prospectus, its financial and business conditions have surfaced.
The prospectus shows that the Cambrian revenue in 2017, 2018 and 2019 was 7,843,300 yuan, 117 million yuan and 444 million yuan, respectively. At the same time, the Cambrian lost 380 million yuan, 41.04 million yuan, and 1.179 billion yuan for three consecutive years, totaling about 1.6 billion yuan.
On the one hand, the huge loss is due to the company’s large R & D expenditure and the product is still in the market expansion stage; on the other hand, the share-based payment of equity incentives during the reporting period is large. The Cambrian also stated frankly in the prospectus that the company cannot guarantee profitability in the next few years, and that the company may face the risk of delisting after listing.
In 2016, Chen Tianshi and Chen Yundi founded the China Cambrian Technology Co., Ltd., using AI chips as the killer. The AI chip refers to a chip equipped with an artificial intelligence deep learning framework. Compared with ordinary chips, it can achieve fast calculations and often exists as a computing accelerator.
Although the Chinese artificial intelligence industry and chip manufacturing industry are not absolute leaders in the world, with the Cambrian 1A processor, the world ’s first commercial deep learning dedicated processor, the Cambrian combination of AI + chips Overtaking, becoming the world’s first smart chip company to successfully tape out and have mature products. In just 4 years, the Cambrian has grown into a unicorn in the field of smart chips.
Will the Cambrian launch fade its aura? In the current turbulent capital market, will the Cambrian create miracles on the science and technology board?
The story of teenage genius and cutting-edge technology
The Cambrian was originally a geological term, referring to the era when life diversity broke out 542 million years ago. Since then, the earth has entered a new era of life. It is named “Cambrian” because it hopes that artificial intelligence will also have a big explosion like life.
The predecessor of the Cambrian Period was a 10-member academic team of “Exploring the Cross Fields of Processor Architecture and Artificial Intelligence” formed by the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008. The founders, Chen Tianshi and Chen Yundi, both graduated from the prestigious Chinese University of Science and Technology Youth Class and are truly talented youngsters.