After a 'cloth' price surge of 270%, investors bet billions on glass substrates: Xunlin Technology closes near 200 million yuan Series B

Xunlin Technology announced the completion of a nearly 200 million yuan Series B financing round, its third within six months, attracting new investors such as Yingnuo Fund, Qiancheng Capital, Hymson, Guangpu, and Tongxin Capital, with existing shareholders Jinyu Maowu, Haitong Kaiyuan, and Beichan Investment also increasing their stakes. The funds will be directed towards expanding glass substrate capacity, building packaging production lines, upgrading process precision, and laying out optical communication applications. The investment occurs against a backdrop of escalating organic substrate supply crisis: electronic-grade fiberglass cloth prices have doubled from 2025 lows, FR-4 copper-clad laminate prices have risen over 270%, and AI packaging substrate lead times have extended beyond six months. Industry giants are moving towards glass: Intel has announced mass production of glass core substrates (GCS), TSMC's CoPoS trial line is expected to go online this year, and Samsung and SKC Absolics are accelerating sampling and mass production preparations. Xunlin, founded in September 2023, has built a full-process glass substrate factory in Tianjin with an annual capacity of 300,000 square meters, covering cutting, thinning, TGV (through-glass via) drilling, PVD metallization, plating, patterning, and solder mask. The company has achieved mass production for Mini LED backlight, COB direct display, and MIP display module substrates, and has passed validation from leading domestic customers. Its technology includes self-developed PVD copper cladding and Cu-ABX quaternary alloy seed layers, offering bonding strength several times the industry level. Xunlin's roadmap involves three progressive and interactive process platforms: first, subtractive method for large-size glass PCB (in mass production) and glass HDI; second, semi-additive fine-line and multi-layer bonding for high-order HDI and glass core substrates (GCS), targeting the ABF substrate replacement market; third, high-precision TGV and glass interposer (GI) for advanced packaging and co-packaged optics, potentially integrating optical waveguides on the same board. The company aims to progress through six levels of precision, from display substrates to high-order HDI, glass-core carriers, and optical waveguides, sharing core processes across platforms to avoid production line obsolescence. Investors emphasize Xunlin's original breakthroughs in PVD copper cladding and its ability to deliver mass production. Founder and CEO Dr. Zhen Zhen stated that the fiberglass cloth price surge has clarified the cost ceiling of organic substrates, lending economic certainty to glass substrate substitution.