Chinese tech startup raises US$40mil, led by Singapore’s Temasek

Chinese tech startup raises US$40mil, led by Singapore’s Temasek

Well-Link plans to use fresh capital to develop cloud-rendering solutions and expand internationally.

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has led a round of funding for cloud-tech startup Well-Link Technologies. (AFP pic)
HONG KONG:
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has led a US$40 million funding round for cloud-rendering startup Well-Link Technologies as the Chinese company pushes to expand internationally.

The Series B2 round attracted capital injections from existing shareholders, including China-focused technology venture capital firm Future Capital and CDH Venture and Growth Capital, the venture arm of the country’s alternative investment major CDH Investments, Well-Link announced on Monday.

The Beijing-based startup, whose partners include Microsoft China, was founded in early 2019 to provide game developers, console makers and other corporate clients with real-time cloud-rendering solutions.

Cloud-rendering is the process of calculating and creating 3D images, cartoons or movies through multiple servers on the cloud, instead of one single computer, which significantly accelerates the computations.

Since its inception, Well-Link has completed five funding rounds with previous investors, including Shunwei Capital, which is backed by Lei Jun, the founder of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Xiaomi itself is another investor, as is Chinese video game developer miHoYo.

“Temasek values long-term market trends, which coincides with our vision for Well-Link,” Well-Link founder and CEO Guo Jianjun said on the company’s official WeChat account.

The startup counts Hong Kong-listed CMGE Technology Group, an intellectual property-based game publisher, cloud computer company Kingsoft Cloud and Alibaba Cloud among its partners. It also helped Shanghai-based miHoYo launch the cloud version of its hit free-to-play fantasy game Genshin Impact.

The fresh capital will help the startup invest in the development of software and hardware based on real-time cloud rendering, according to the WeChat post.

Well-Link said it is also looking to apply cloud rendering in the development of virtual reality and augmented reality content. The global market for AR/VR headsets almost doubled in 2021 as shipments reached 11.2 million units, according to market researcher International Data Corporation.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.