Black Sesame, Chinese auto chip challenger to Nvidia, burns $140M a year

Founded by veterans of Bosch and OmniVision, Black Sesame is seen as one of the potential domestic players that can potentially replace the likes of Nvidia, Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductors in the auto chip space. The question, then, is whether Black Sesame can continue to pour money into R&D until it becomes profitable. While Black Sesame plays a role in helping China achieve independence in auto chips, its own products rely heavily on access to the global supply chain. Increasing lossesBlack Sesame’s revenue tripled from 53 million yuan ($7.33 million) to 165.4 million yuan between 2020 and 2022, but its losses grew to 1 billion yuan ($140 million) in 2022, a more than 200% increase from 293 million yuan in 2020. Like many companies in China’s critical industries, Black Sesame receives government grants and tax incentives because it operates in the field of automotive SoCs.