Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 88 Financing

Han Lu was very efficient, arranging meetings with four investment institutions within three days.

Zuo Cheng wore a dark gray suit and tie, which Han Lu had specifically requested. She said that meeting with investors was different from meeting with the government; the government valued technology and results, while investors valued data and growth potential.

The first one is a local venture capital fund in Hangzhou called Ginkgo Capital, which manages 50 billion yuan and mainly invests in the technology sector. The partner's surname is Lin, he is in his forties, and he speaks very frankly.

"Mr. Zuo, I've reviewed your business plan." Mr. Lin opened the folder in front of him. "The Sky Dome project is worth 1.2 million, the Hangzhou Smart City project is worth 5000 million, and with the anticipated province-wide rollout, 402's revenue next year should be between 3 and 5 million. This growth rate is very impressive among tech startups."

"Thank you," Zuo Cheng said.

"But I have a question." President Lin looked up at him. "Where is your competitive advantage? Huaxin Group is also involved in the Internet of Things; their capital and talent far surpass yours. If Huaxin competes head-on with you in the national market, what will 402 use to win?"

This is a very pointed question, and one that every investor would ask. Zuo Cheng had already prepared an answer.

"Three advantages," Zuo Cheng said. "First, technological leadership. Our edge scheduling system has a latency of 9 milliseconds, while the industry average is over 30 milliseconds. This isn't a small difference; it's a generational gap. Huaxin can imitate our architecture, but it can't catch up with our algorithm in the short term. Second, first-mover advantage. The successful case in Hangzhou is our calling card. No other city in the country has ever deployed a smart city on a full scale; 402 is the first. This first-mover advantage is particularly important in the government market; governments prefer suppliers with successful case studies. Third, cost advantage. Our distributed architecture costs 30% less than Huaxin's centralized architecture, and this gap cannot be narrowed in the short term."

After listening, Mr. Lin nodded: "That makes sense. So, what is your valuation expectation?"

"10 billion," Zuo Cheng said.

Mr. Lin didn't say anything, but flipped through a few pages of materials.

"A valuation of 10 billion, a financing of 15 million, and the sale of 1.5% of the shares," Han Lu added. "The funds will primarily be used for nationwide market expansion, team expansion, and technology research and development."

Mr. Lin thought for a moment: "A valuation of 10 billion corresponds to a price-to-sales ratio of approximately 3, which is reasonable in the tech industry. However, I need to conduct due diligence, which will take about two weeks."

"No problem," Zuo Cheng said.

After leaving Ginkgo Capital, Zuo Cheng and Han Lu met with three more investment institutions.

The second firm was Sequoia Capital China, a top-tier venture capital firm in Shenzhen that has invested in numerous tech unicorns. They were more concerned about 402's growth ceiling, asking many questions about AI and drones. Zuo Cheng didn't reveal any secrets about the tech roadmap, only saying that 402 is currently focusing on AI algorithms and will enter more vertical fields in the future.

The third company is an industry fund in Hangzhou, backed by Blue Bay Communications. Their investment seems more like a strategic one, aiming not only for financial returns but also to strengthen the bond between Blue Bay and 402. Zuo Cheng is very interested in this company; strategic investment implies a more stable cooperative relationship.

The fourth firm was a Beijing-based dollar fund, offering the highest valuation at $12 billion, but demanding a double-value performance-based clause: if 402's revenue next year is less than $5 million, they would repurchase shares at 1.5 times the initial investment. Zuo Cheng rejected this outright, finding the performance-based clause too harsh; if the market environment changed, 402 would be in a passive position.

After comparing the four institutions, Zuo Cheng favors Ginkgo Capital and Blue Bay Industrial Fund. One provides financial support, and the other provides strategic resources; a joint investment by the two would yield the best results.

After returning to the company, Chen Hao approached him.

"Brother Cheng, there's a technical issue I need to discuss with you regarding the third phase of Sky Dome." Chen Hao adjusted his glasses. "Tang Xu's beam management module encountered a beam switching delay problem during simulation testing with 480 satellites. The switching interval has increased from the design value of 50 milliseconds to 120 milliseconds, which is a veto item for acceptance testing."

Zuo Cheng frowned. The first delivery deadline for the third phase of Sky Dome was only six months, and more than three months had already passed. If there was a problem with the beam management module, the entire delivery schedule would be affected.

"What's the reason?"

"Uncertain," Chen Hao said. "Tang Xu investigated for a week and initially determined that it was caused by resource contention during multi-satellite parallel processing. But he hasn't found the root cause yet."

Zuo Cheng thought for a moment. Beam management is a core technology in aerospace communications, but the capabilities on the tech tree only provide the algorithmic level; engineering implementation still depends on the team. If problems arise in engineering implementation, the tech tree can't help.

"I'll go to the lab tomorrow," Zuo Cheng said. "Have Tang Xu prepare the simulation logs and test data. The beam switching delay can't be delayed; the delivery deadline for Tianqiong is looming."

"Understood," Chen Hao said. "There's one more thing. Tang Xu said he tried adjusting the scheduling priority, which reduced the latency to 80 milliseconds, but it still exceeded the limit. He suspects the problem might lie in the underlying parallel processing framework, not the algorithm itself."

"Underlying framework?" Zuo Cheng's heart skipped a beat. If it was an issue with the underlying framework, then it wasn't something Tang Xu could solve alone; it required optimization at the overall architecture level. He possessed the technical skills required for the technology tree, but whether he could complete the optimization within the limited timeframe was still an unknown.

After Chen Hao left, Zuo Cheng opened the system panel and glanced at the status of the aerospace communication branch. The branch was activated normally, and all the blades were running. But the blades provided technical capabilities, not engineering guarantees. The tech tree can tell you the optimal beam switching algorithm, but it can't help you write bug-free code.

He closed the system panel and began processing emails. He needed to personally review every single one: the meeting minutes of the four investment institutions, the plan for the province-wide rollout of smart cities, and the progress report for the third phase of Sky Dome.

Working late into the night, Yu Ying sent a message: "Brother, have you eaten?"

Zuo Cheng glanced at the time; it was already 10 p.m. He had only eaten breakfast since leaving home in the morning, and his stomach was long empty.

"Not yet. I was too busy and forgot."

"Forgot again!" Yu Ying sent an angry emoji. "I ordered takeout for you and had it delivered to the company reception. Remember to eat, and don't work overtime on an empty stomach again!"

Zuo Cheng looked at the messages on the screen, a slight smile playing on his lips. He went out to get his takeout. Opening the lunchbox, he found stir-fried pork with chili peppers and pickled fish from a Hunan restaurant—his favorites. He ate while checking emails, the busy night made warm by her care.

Outside the window, the city of Hangzhou was brightly lit at night, and among the myriad lights, one belonged to him.