We at EqualOcean tracked the major funding rounds or industry events that took place in China’s automotive market in September 2022. And the following is a list of deals that we have selected for you, based on a number of criteria, including the funding amount, the financial backers, and the segments in which the companies operate.
DECO
Tianjin Deco Intelligent Control Co., Ltd (Chinese: 天津德科智控股份有限公司), a vehicle intelligent X-by-wire technology supplier, completed its round B equity financing of CNY 60 million (USD 8.37 million) on September 23. The investors include Pengchen Xunda Fund (Chinese: 鹏晨迅达), Pengchen Ruizhi Fund (Chinese: 鹏晨瑞智), Suzhou Trend 1 Venture (Chinese: 苏州趋势一号), and Zhixuan Venture(Chinese: 智选创投). The fund will be mainly used for R&D of smart car steering technologies including electric power steering (EPS) and steer-by-wire steering (SBW), the establishment of factories, the iteration of core products, and the recruitment of high-end talents.
Hengchuang Ruineng
Shenzhen Hengchuang Ruineng Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd (Chinese: 深圳市恒创睿能环保科技有限公司), a battery recycling company, completed its B+ financing round worth over CNY 100 million (nearly USD 14.3 million) in September, which was led by GLP-backed Hidden Hill Capita (Chinese: 隐山资本). This round of financing will be mainly used for R&D of power battery echelon utilization, capacity building on retired lithium battery recycling and the development of lithium battery melting-and-extraction technologies. Founded in 2017, Hengchuang Ruineng is a high-tech enterprise deeply engaged in the recycling and comprehensive utilization of retired power batteries, with a focus on the echelon utilization of lithium batteries and battery material recycling technologies.
InchTek
Beijing InchTek Co., Ltd (Chinese: 北京云驰未来科技有限公司), an intelligent auto cyber security firm, completed a new round of strategic financing worth tens of millions of CNY on September 19. This round of financing was led by China Power Fund (Chinese: 中电基金), followed by its two long-term equity holders Beijing Zhongguancun Development Frontier Fund (Chinese: 中关村前沿基金) and GSR Ventures (Chinese: 金沙江创投). The company will use the fund for R&D of its auto safety products, product planning, team building, and market expansion. The company provides products and services to FAW, Toyota, Golden Dragon, Ford and other OEMs. Besides, it has established strategic cooperation with Baidu, Didi, TuSimple, WeRide and other leading autonomous driving technology companies.
Chilye
Suzhou Chilye Green Technology Co., Ltd (Chinese: 苏州智绿环保科技有限公司), a Chinese supplier of high-voltage electrical appliances and power distribution units for new energy vehicles, closed a new round of financing worth hundreds of millions of CNY on September 16, just months after it closed its round B financing. This round of financing was co-led by Oriza Holdings (Chinese: 元禾控股), JianYin Kechuang (Chinese: 建银科创基金), Haitong Innovation (Chinese: 海通创新) and Tsinghua Holdings Capital (Chinese: 华控基金) and followed by Cowin Capital (Chinese: 同创伟业), Sunic Capital (Chinese: 临芯投资) and Hubei Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Investment Fund (Chinese: 小米产投). The fund will mainly be used for the R&D of the high-voltage connectors, charger connectors and power distribution units for NEVs, production expansion, as well as vertical integration of key supply chain network.
Ziezone
Shanghai Ziezone Auto Parts Co., Ltd (Chinese: 上海驰助汽车零部件有限公司), an automotive pre-installed intelligent component supplier, has secured a B round financing worth tens of millions of CNY. Guiyang Venture Capital (Chinese: 贵阳创投) led this round of financing, and Huas Capital (Chinese: 华势资本) served as the financial advisor. The money is expected to be used in product R&D, manufacturing and business expansion. Founded in 2015, Ziezone mainly provides auto electric tailgate systems, electric side suction door systems and scissor door systems.
Itimotor
Suzhou Itimotor Technology Co., Ltd (Chinese: 苏州英特模汽车科技有限公司), an automotive power testing solutions provider, secured a C round financing worth hundreds of millions of CNY on September 7. This round of financing was led by Eastern Bell Capital (Chinese: 钟鼎资本) and followed by Oriza Holdings (Chinese 元禾控股), Suzhou fund (Chinese: 苏州基金) and blue Lake Capital (Chinese: 蓝湖资本). The funds will mainly be used for research and development of intelligent driving and hydrogen energy, the establishment of hydrogen energy testing centers, capacity expansion of new energy testing centers, as well as team recruitment and product promotion.
Konvery
Beijing Konvery Technologies Co., Ltd (Chinese: 北京恺望数据科技有限公司), a digital data solutions startup, closed an angel round of strategic financing worth tens of millions of CNY on September 5. This round of financing, invested by Estar Capital (Chinese: 辰韬资本), Sany Group (Chinese: 三一集团) and Stream Hill Angels (Chinese: 溪山天使汇), is expected to be used for team building and technology R&D, as well as the development of data service platforms that could efficiently deal with large quantities of data generated from autonomous driving processes. Founded in February 2022, Konvery is dedicated to providing one-stop data solutions for auto companies, especially those aiming to develop autonomous driving cars.
Leapmotor
Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Co., Ltd (Chinese: 浙江零跑科技股份有限公司), a Chinese smart EV maker, will list on the main board of Hong Kong, aiming to raise 1 billion USD in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), and the trading will start on September 29. The company will sell 130 million shares at the price of HKD 48 to HKD 62 per share. Founded in 2015, the Hangzhou-based smart car manufacturer has completed six rounds of financing, cumulating at least 12 billion CNY. Its institutional investors include Sequoia China (Chinese: 红杉中国), China Capital; Investment Group (Chinese: 中金资本), Hangzhou Municipal Government Venture Capital Fund (Chinese: 杭州市政府创投基金), CTIC Capital (Chinese: 中信资本) and SDIC Chuangyi (Chinese: 国投创益).
ChipON Micro-Electronica
ChipON Micro-Electronica Co., Ltd (Chinese: 芯旺微电子) closed a C+ round financing on September 20, with investors including FAW (Chinese: 中国一汽), Shanghai STVC Group (Chinese: 上海科技创业投资集团) and Shanghai Zhangjiang Technology Venture Capital (Chinese: 张江科投). ChipON is a high-tech enterprise focusing on automotive-grade and industrial-grade mixed-signal 8-bit/32-bit MCU&DSP chips as well as R&D and design of highly reliable and high-quality MCU devices based on the independent KungFu processor architecture. It is one of the earliest chip design companies in the automotive and industrial fields in China.
EN Plus Technologies
Shenzhen EN Plus Technologies Co., Ltd (Chinese: 深圳驿普乐氏科技有限公司), a charging pile solution provider, closed a C round of financing worth more than tens of millions of USD. This round of financing will be used for research and development investment, upgrading manufacturing capacity and global layout expansion. Founded in 2015, EN Plus Technology focuses on the development of charging pile equipment, technologies and operating platforms. At present, the company provides products covering AC piles, DC piles, charging modules and operation platform systems. Over the past 6 years, the company has exported products to more than 40 countries and regions.
Haomo.AI
Haomo.AI Co., Ltd (Chinese: 毫末智行科技有限公司), a Beijing-based automated driving startup, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with digital map developer NavInfo on September 5. According to the agreement, both sides will jointly carry out in-depth exploration in intelligent driving, digital map services, and data closed-loop fields. Founded in 2019, Haomo. AI is an artificial intelligence technology company affiliated to Great Wall Motor (Chinese: 长城汽车) and dedicated to autonomous driving. It offers car-assisted driving products, unmanned logistics vehicles and hardware that contribute to reshaping the travel and logistics industry.
Shanghai Zhuifeng Automotive System
Shanghai Zhuifeng Automotive System Co., Ltd (Chinese: 上海追锋汽车系统有限公司), a provider of integrated solutions for vehicle acoustic systems, completed its A round equity financing worth tens of millions of CNY. This round was led by Wisemen Capital (Chinese: 咏圣资本) and followed by Ralph Investment Management (Chinese: 拉尔夫创投). The money will be mainly used for R&D, market expansion and team building. Founded in July 2019, Zhuifeng Automobile is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the design, production and sales of vehicle acoustic systems. The company provides hardware products such as advanced audio systems, active noise reduction and IoV modules, as well as software products such as acoustic algorithms, sound tuning, underlying software architecture, IoV communication and OTA upgrade.
Ebusbar
Shenzhen Busbar Sci-Tech Development Co., Ltd (Chinese: 深圳巴斯巴科技发展有限公司), a high-tech Chinese enterprise, secured a new strategic round of financing from CITIC Securities (Chinese: 中信证券) on Septeber 19. Founded in April 2010, Busbar is mainly engaged in R&D and manufacturing of NEV core parts, covering new energy electric vehicle high voltage connection, charging systems and electronic control systems.
VOYAH
VOYAH Automobile Technology Co., Ltd (Chinese: 岚图汽车科技公司), a high-end new energy vehicle brand under Dongfeng Group, finished its first round of strategic financing on September 13. Before the financing, 89.66% of its VOYAH's equity was held by Dongfeng Motor Group. After this round of capital raising, Dongfeng Group is expected to hold no less than 77% of the equity, and strategic investors hold no more than 15% of the total equity. The money is expected to be used in the company’s core technology research and development, digital system building, production capacity building and marketing.
Leadrive
Leadrive Electric (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (Chinese: 臻驱科技), a supplier of power semiconductors and NEV electric drive system solutions, completed its C round financing on September 2. This round of financing is jointly invested by Juntong Capital (Chinese: 君桐资本) and Pinghu Economic Development Zone Investment Group (Chinese: 平湖经济技术开发区产业投资有限公司), as well as its long-term shareholder Junlian Capital. Founded in 2017, Leadrive Electric has been committed to the development and production of power semiconductor modules and high-performance electric drive systems.