Former Qualcomm Algorithm R&D Manager’s Startup Raises Nearly RMB 100 Million for AI Board Inspection

Summary

Shenzhen-based Kangwei Vision has completed a nearly RMB 100 million Pre-A round led by Nanjing Jingzhida Qingyuan Investment Fund, with participation from Sichuan Shang Fund and existing investor Qingyuan Capital. Founded in 2019 by Zhang Hui, a former Qualcomm chip-algorithm R&D manager and former CTO of autonomous-driving company Qianxiang Qichuang, the company develops optical inspection equipment for advanced semiconductors and PCBs. The article links its opportunity to AI-computing infrastructure: as high-end PCBs move toward finer lines, more layers and denser microvias, 2D inspection is no longer sufficient, while NVIDIA has reportedly required 3D inspection for every board rather than sampling. Kangwei spent its first three years supplying algorithm solutions with equipment makers, launched its own branded equipment in 2022, and began scaled order signing and delivery in 2024. Its product range includes pure 3D AOI, 2D-plus-3D hybrid AOI, microvia inspection and finished-board appearance inspection. The company combines line-scan spectral confocal sensors with AI to inspect both surface defects and three-dimensional shape on one production-line machine. It says its in-house AI framework covers data parsing, feature extraction and defect classification, with 3D accuracy of plus or minus 1 micrometer, detection above 99.9% and a false-detection rate below 5%. The company is in the supply chains of several large Chinese PCB companies and says its end customers include NVIDIA, Google and Huawei. It plans to raise annual capacity from about 200 to 500 machines within three years, expand overseas revenue from 10% to about 30%, and develop inspection solutions for optical modules and advanced packaging such as HBM.