The 2026 GEI China Unicorn Enterprise Research Report was recently released. Jiangsu has 47 companies on the list, including 19 from Suzhou—the highest number in the province and fifth highest nationally.
Since establishing itself in Xiangcheng District more than two years ago, XHEART has focused on automotive-grade AI chip solutions that deliver high performance and reliability for intelligent driving. Its core business includes IC design, chip sales and software development.
According to XHEART SoC R&D lead Guojun Yu, the test vehicle carries 11 cameras. They send a 360-degree view to the chip, whose computing “brain” processes possible traffic situations and determines the corresponding driving actions.
Step into a test vehicle powered by XHEART's X7 large-model driving chip and there are no complicated commands or noticeable delays. Like a calm, experienced driver, it makes a precise unprotected left turn amid traffic and smoothly avoids an electric bike that suddenly enters its path. Cameras, millimeter-wave radar and lidar around the vehicle send streams of data to X7. Processing trillions of operations per second, the chip turns perception into decisions within milliseconds: whether to yield, when to accelerate and overtake, and how to change lanes and enter a turn.
Yu said the large-model intelligent driving chip has a hard-to-replicate core advantage. Hardware and software co-design pushes chip efficiency to its limits, bringing users a smoother and safer intelligent driving experience.
X7 reached tape-out in 14 months, first silicon bring-up within 24 hours, vehicle testing within three weeks and mass production within six months—an unusually fast development and deployment timeline.
XHEART CEO Zonglin Li said the company will remain rooted in the Yangtze River Delta, fill critical gaps in the local “chip + intelligent driving algorithm” industry chain and strengthen cooperation with upstream and downstream partners. It will also build an industry-academia-research platform, attract and develop high-end chip talent, and strengthen Suzhou's reputation in intelligent connected vehicles.
Four of the 19 Suzhou companies on the list are new unicorns. Alongside XHEART are Xiangcheng-based autonomous driving solutions provider QCraft, Changshu-based hydrogen energy company FTXT Energy Technology and Taicang-based electric smart truck developer Zelos Technology.