Chinese EV-maker WM Motor announced on September 22, the completion of its Series D round financing worth a staggering CNY 10 billion.
The round was jointly led by Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and SAIC Motor, followed by Baidu, SIG, Yangtze River Industry Fund, Suzhou Kunshan Industry Fund, State Development & Investment Corp., Ltd., Guangzhou Finance Holdings, Sino IC Leasing, Tsinghua Unigroup, Hongta Group and AGILE. Minmetals Capital and Lighthouse Capital served as financial advisors.
According to the company, the financing proceeds will be primarily used for the R&D of intelligent technologies, brand construction, digital marketing and sales channel expansion.
WM Motor did not disclose its valuation but a source previously revealed that after completing this round, the valuation will shoot up to CNY 30-35 billion.
Freeman Shen Hui, WM Motor's founder, chairman and CEO said, "The closing of the D round financing indicates that investors are upbeat about the prospect of the intelligent new energy vehicle industry, and highly recognize WM Motor's position as a technology innovation company, its long-term development strategy, outstanding core talent team and industry-leading cutting-edge technologies."
Another source familiar with the situation said that the company has already started preparations for an IPO on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. The D round is likely to be the last round of financing before the firm goes public next year.