AIoT unicorn Tesi United has officially submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, planning to go public on the Hong Kong stock market. This company, established in 2015, has gained a reputation in the industry in less than a decade, with the Everbright Group playing a significant role. It is reported that the founder has a background in the Everbright Group, and assets under Everbright Holdings have also participated in multiple rounds of financing for this company.

The unicorn nurtured by the Everbright Group, Tesi United, has begun its IPO assault.

On September 26th, Tesi United officially submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a strong "Everbright Group" hue attracting market attention.

Data shows that Tesi United, in the AI track, is not short of orders, but has suffered a "massive loss" of 7 billion yuan in three and a half years, and faces considerable financial pressure. Therefore, the ultimate goal of its listing may be to "replenish blood."

Looking through the shareholder list of Tesi United, it is found that many star investors, including Everbright Holdings, JD Technology, and IDG, have "entered the game early." After nine rounds of financing, the valuation of Tesi United has increased by more than 302 times; if it successfully enters the capital market, a group of investors will enjoy a "capital feast."

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JD and the Everbright Group stand behind it.

On September 26th, Tesi United officially submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CITIC Securities and Haitong International serving as joint sponsors.

Looking back at history, since its establishment, Tesi United has gone through a total of 9 rounds of financing, attracting well-known domestic and international investors such as Everbright Holdings, JD Technology, and IDG Capital.

Back to December 21, 2015. At that time, Guangzhi No.1, Everbright Harmony, Chongqing Tesi United Technology, and Donghai Fu decided to initiate and register the establishment of the company, with a registered capital of RMB 1 million, which was fully paid in cash by Guangzhi No.1, Everbright Harmony, Chongqing Tesi United Technology, and Donghai Fu at a par value of RMB 1 per share. The above institutions spent 800,000 yuan, 134,500 yuan, 53,300 yuan, and 12,200 yuan respectively. Among them, Guangzhi No.1 is a fund under the Everbright Holdings New Economy Fund led by Ai Yu, and Everbright Harmony is under Everbright Holdings.

It was only three months after the birth of Tesi United that the company welcomed angel investors; on February 2, 2016, Everbright Harmony spent 46.9 million yuan to subscribe to a registered capital of 4.57 million yuan, along with Chongqing Tesi United and Donghai Fu.On September 23 of the same year, Jin Zhong Tai Fu "swept up" the company's Series A financing with 100 million yuan.

From November 2017 to December 2021, over the span of five years, Tesla Alliance completed rounds B1, B2, C1, C2, D, and D+ in one breath, with a total cost of 3.507 billion yuan.

During this period, many tech giants also moved in. Among them, SenseTime Group and its SenseTime Jutong invested three times in rounds B1, C1, and D, spending a total of 460 million yuan; JD Technology also relied on JD Xindongteng and Suqian Xinshi to invest 300 million yuan in round C1.

At the same time, Everbright Holdings also "added bets" on Tesla Alliance five times in rounds B1, B2, C1, C2, and D. Its subsidiaries Everbright Zhongying No. 4, Everbright Zhongying No. 5, Hunan Everbright, Beta Technology, and Tianjin Guangte spent a total of 2.05 billion yuan and 103 million US dollars to subscribe for shares.

Within the same time frame, international capital also "set its sights" on Tesla Alliance, with Harmony Zhongying, backed by IDG Capital, investing 200 million yuan in round B1.

On May 31, 2022, Tesla Alliance's "D++" round of financing was officially launched, with more than ten investors including Futian Capital, SOS Group, and Megahertz entering at a cost price of 20 yuan per share, with a total cost of 1.226 billion yuan.

At present, Tesla Alliance's "D++" round of financing has been completed. The prospectus shows that the company's latest valuation is as high as 21.2 billion yuan, an increase of about 302 times compared to the 70 million yuan valuation during the angel round.

If Tesla Alliance successfully enters the Hong Kong stock market, Everbright Holdings, JD Technology, and IDG Capital may hope to further enjoy the "capital feast."

Everbright Holdings "nursed" the unicorn

Tesla Alliance can be said to have been "raised" by Everbright Holdings.In addition to the founder Ai Yu's background with Everbright Holdings and Everbright Holdings' continuous support for the company's financing, its executive team also has a strong Everbright Holdings presence.

Wang Ou, 55, who is the Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Tesla Alliance, once served as a member of the Everbright Holdings Management Decision Committee and has experience as a Senior Overseas Investment Director at Everbright Holdings.

Jin Zheng, a Non-Executive Director of Tesla Alliance, is currently the Managing Director of Everbright Holdings and the head of the New Economy Fund Department. Zhang Lei, the company's Executive Director and Senior Vice President, was also a former Investment Director and Vice President of Everbright Holdings.

Furthermore, Tesla Alliance's IDG and JD.com "attributes" are also prominent. Zhai Ping, a Non-Executive Director of the company, joined IDG Capital in 2011, and Zheng Yu, who holds the same position, has also served as the Vice President of JD Technology.

Overall, most of Tesla Alliance's management team has work experience in finance, real estate, smart buildings, and smart cities, but their "involvement" in the AI field seems relatively scarce.

As a result, continuously adding "tech elements" has become a strategy for Tesla Alliance.

According to Ai Yu, in 2021, Tesla Alliance sought talents globally and once listed a roster of 100 top scientists in the AIoT field. Ultimately, six scientists were willing to join the company, and the company selected three IEEE Fellow-level scientists under the age of 50.

Looking ahead, Ai Yu stated his ambition to create another 10 billion yuan company in 10 years and to become the first large-scale profitable AI company in China.

So, is this grand vision Ai Yu's heartfelt words or is there a suspicion of "pie in the sky"?

What needs to be confirmed is that Tesla Alliance is indeed in a "long slope with thick snow" track.According to a report by灼识咨询, the global public domain AIoT market size has reached 1.65 trillion yuan in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.0%; it is expected that by 2028, the market size will grow to 2.664 trillion yuan, with a CAGR expected to reach 10.1%.

The company has incurred a loss of 7 billion yuan in three and a half years.

Information shows that 特斯联 mainly relies on the artificial intelligence operating system TacOS to provide fully artificial intelligence products to public managers and other public domain entities.

Its main business modules are divided into AI industrial digitalization, AI urban intelligence, AI smart life, and AI smart energy; in the first half of 2024, the aforementioned four categories accounted for 55.5%, 24.7%, 6.8%, and 13% of the company's revenue, respectively.

In recent years, 特斯联's business has been relatively full, with the number of new signed customers increasing from 161 in 2021 to 193 in 2023. As of the end of June this year, the company's order backlog is about 2 billion yuan.

However, 特斯联's performance has not been ideal. From January to June 2024, the company achieved a revenue of 356 million yuan, with a net profit loss of 1.128 billion yuan. Before that, from 2021 to 2023, its net profit cumulative loss was nearly 6 billion yuan. In other words, in the last three and a half years, the company has lost about 7 billion yuan in net profit.

In response, 特斯联 mainly attributes the main reasons to the loss of fair value of preferred shares and share-based payment expenses.

The prospectus shows that from 2021 to June 2024, 特斯联's total loss of fair value of preferred shares was as high as about 3.8 billion yuan, and the cumulative value of share-based payment expenses was 746 million yuan.

In addition, 特斯联, which is in the AIoT track, still needs to maintain a high level of technological investment, which to some extent continues to exacerbate the degree of loss.

In the first half of 2024, 特斯联's R&D expenses accounted for more than 40% of total revenue; looking at the past three years, the company's R&D expenses were 286 million yuan, 329 million yuan, and 322 million yuan, respectively, accounting for 23.8%, 44.6%, and 32.0% of the same period's revenue.It is worth mentioning that, as of the end of June, Tesla's total assets amounted to 3.86 billion yuan, while the total current liabilities stood at 11.3 billion yuan for the same period. Additionally, the net cash outflow from operating and investing activities was approximately 350 million yuan.

Therefore, in addition to the continuous significant losses, Tesla's financial situation is also under pressure at present. At the same time, if the company wants to further accelerate the development of AIoT, a business with a strong technological attribute, then expenditures on technology investment, market promotion, and ecosystem construction will inevitably not be reduced.

Faced with this situation, Tesla's choice to "replenish blood" through listing financing seems to have become a "way out" at present.