Tsinghua Unigroup invests $100m in mobile OS start-up Acadine

Tsinghua Unigroup is a unit of Tsinghua Holdings, an investment entity controlled by Beijing-based Tsinghua University.

Acadine is founded by Li Gong, former president of Mozilla and a Tsinghua University alumnus. The firm's core product is a web-based operating system called H5OS, which is based on the HTML5 software technology used in web browsers. H5OS is expected to eliminate the native application programming interface (API) that gives the traditional mobile OS owners full control over other mobile industry participants.

It aims to provide an open mobile resource to device makers and mobile app developers. The Hong Kong-headquartered company also has offices in Beijing and Taipei, as well as development facilities in Palo Alto and London.

"The operating system is the most critical link between users and service providers, and this field is the most important battleground for the entire IT industry worldwide. Yet it has been highly monopolized on the desktop and in the mobile space, and the offerings cannot meet the specialized needs of many vertical sectors," Weiguo Zhao, chairman of the Tsinghua Unigroup, said in a statement. "The Acadine team has the international vision and caliber to challenge this monopoly and we fully support them in this endeavor."

Two months ago, Tsinghua Holdings agreed to buy a majority stake in Hewlett-Packard's (HP) China-based data-networking business for approximately $2.3 billion. In July last year, Tsinghua Unigroup acquired Spreadtrum Communications, a Chinese mobile chip manufacturer backed by New Enterprise Associates, valuing the company at approximately $1.78 billion. Meanwhile, the investment unit signed a strategic agreement with Intel Corporation, selling a 20% stake to the chip maker for $1.5 billion.

Tsinghua Holdings is a state-owned company responsible for managing the majority of Tsinghua University commercial assets. As of year-end 2012, it had approximately RMB70.4 billion ($11.5 billion) in assets and a net income of RMB1.45 billion.

Tsinghua Unigroup, which has about RMB40 billion in assets under management, focuses on high-tech, biotech, science park development and urban infrastructure investments. The other shareholder in the firm is Beijing Jiankun Investment Group.

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