The 2023 NIO Capital USD Funds and RMB Industrial Funds Investor Conference was successfully held in Hefei on May 18th, 2023. A global assembly of investors, entrepreneurs, and partners delved into emerging industry trends, seized lucrative prospects, and exchanged fresh perspectives.

 

After a three-year hiatus, this conference successfully united investors from RMB and USD funds, facilitating direct face-to-face communication and interaction with members of the NIO Capital ecosystem and partners. Our primary objective is to foster stronger relationships, enhance trust and resonance, and promote deeper communication and collaboration in a more meaningful and efficient way.

 

The conference consisted of fund performance reviews, investor speeches, themed roundtable discussions, Demo Day, as well as a visit to the NIO House Hefei. These activities aimed to facilitate meaningful cooperation and business connections, promote interactive dialogue and provide a solid foundation for the realization of shared visions and goals.

 

 

William Li, NIO's Founder, Chairman, CEO, and NIO Capital Managing Partner, delivered a keynote speech at the conference, sharing his views on the development of new energy vehicles and corporate strategy. He stated that last year was a milestone year for the global new energy vehicle industry, as global sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 10 million units for the first time, with China contributing nearly 70% of the total. Even during the pandemic, the performance of China's new energy vehicle sales was still impressive, indicating that new energy vehicles have transitioned completely from being policy-driven to being driven by products and the market, marking a historic turning point.

 

However, the future still poses significant challenges, and the increase in uncertainty is almost unanimously recognized as a trend. Today, we must learn how to think about development, risk management, and seizing opportunities in a world that is more volatile and uncertain. We need to adopt a long-term perspective to guide our strategies and direct short-term actions. While ensuring the controllability of operational risks, we should actively embrace market challenges.

 

 

Ian Zhu, Managing Partner of NIO Capital, shared the current economic and industry development situation and provided an in-depth interpretation of NIO Capital's investment thesis and management system. He stated that the speed of China's economic recovery after the pandemic is very encouraging, and the country firmly supports the private economy and openness in its policies. As the world's second-largest economy, China plays a significant role in driving the global economy. China's economic development paradigm is undergoing changes, with driving factors gradually shifting from population advantages and real estate infrastructure to technological innovation. In the future, the most important growth drivers for the Chinese economy will come from the green economy and the digital economy.

 

The shift of the macroeconomic paradigm brings about a shift in the private equity investment industry. NIO Capital has proactively adapted to emerging market trends and possesses extensive hands-on expertise in the realm of technology investment. By efficiently utilizing industrial resources, we identify future winners at an earlier stage and help technology better and faster enter the market. NIO Capital has actively invested in several specific areas, including smart cockpit, battery technology, energy transformation, semiconductors, and the automotive ecosystem. At the same time, we provide multidimensional post-investment empowerment for companies and have incubated several leading enterprises. The NIO Capital portfolio companies community (“NIO Capital CEO Club”) continues to grow. Amidst future transformations and unknowns, our quest for assurance lies in fostering innovation and sustainable development, as we collaborate with exceptional visionaries to pursue endeavors that uplift humanity as a whole.

 

 

Chengdu Liang, Chairman of HG Technology, shared his insights on the topic of "Discussions on Innovative Energy Storage Technologies". Liang elaborated on the history and development of energy storage and shared the key directions and application scenarios of new energy storage technologies. Liang previously served as co-president for R&D at CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) and was also the executive Deputy Director of the National Engineering Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Technology (National Development and Reform Commission). He has led the construction of an advanced solid-state battery pilot production platform and possesses extensive research achievements and engineering manufacturing experience in solid-state batteries.

 

 

In the "Jump Over the Great Wall" roundtable dialogue hosted by Yao Li, Managing Director of NIO Capital, Christian Steinmann, the CEO of ClearMotion, and Junwei Bao, the Co-founder and CEO of Innovusion, discussed topics such as the international environment, the development of the automotive industry, and company strategies. Both ClearMotion and Innovusion are global leaders in their respective technologies, committed to creating smarter, safer and more comfortable driving experiences. The two guests candidly shared their experiences and insights on these questions and outlined a blueprint for the future of intelligent transportation.

 

 

In the roundtable dialogue titled "Prometheus's Fire – Fusion Energy and Super Conductors" hosted by Carl Guan, Managing Director of NIO Capital, Songtao Wu, a researcher at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhiyong Hong, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Superconducting Technology, engaged in a fascinating discussion on the topic of "ultimate energy" that meets standards of safety, cleanliness, reliability, and affordability. The two guests introduced the recent reasons for the attention to nuclear fusion and breakthroughs in underlying technologies, the applications of superconducting materials in nuclear fusion and other fields, as well as the industrial prospects for the commercialization of high-temperature superconducting materials, presenting more cutting-edge technological explorations aimed at building a sustainable future.

 

 

Adair Lv, Managing Director of NIO Capital, delivered a speech on the theme of "Opportunities and Challenges of China's Semiconductor Industry." He stated that in the 1.0 era, the guiding principle for China's semiconductor industry was "domestic substitution." However, in the 2.0 era, the focus has shifted to "value and innovation."  The innovation does not only come from semiconductor companies themselves but more so from the system-level semiconductor innovation.

 

China has a solid foundation in the application of semiconductor innovation, especially in the intelligent electric vehicle industry. The current market severely underestimates the future proportion of automotive semiconductors, Lv said. Firstly, intelligent electric vehicles, being larger carriers, inherently possess ample energy, computing power, and space, thereby opening greater possibilities for extended applications. Secondly, the output value and demand for semiconductor-related components in electric vehicles are already substantial, indicating the significant role semiconductors play in the automotive industry. Lastly, from an intelligent standpoint, there are two prominent dimensions: autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit. Both dimensions offer vast opportunities for the application and extension of semiconductors, and the scope for semiconductor integration expands further.

 

The past three years have been filled with challenges and transformations, harboring unlimited opportunities. NIO Capital has had the privilege of accompanying members of the NIO family in overcoming numerous difficulties and witnessing their growth into industry-leading enterprises. In the future, we will join hands with enterprises to fulfil our mission of “Invest in Innovations and Sustainability to Advance Humankind”.