Wang Xing to Invest USD 300 million in Chinese New Car Manufacturer Li Xiang

Financials, Automotive, Healthcare Author: Feng An Jun 17, 2019 02:12 PM (GMT+8)

Mobility companies and car manufacturers will further deepen cooperation.

LI ONE. PHOTO: Lixiang

"Wang Xing (王兴), the founder of Meituan Dianping (美团点评), intends to invest USD 300 million in Lixiang (理想), a Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer, including USD 15 million from Longzhu capital (龙珠资本, Meituan's industrial fund) and USD 285 million from Wang Xing himself, of which 35 million will be used to buy old stocks," According to media reports.

Li Xiang plans to raise more than USD 500 million in this round, which is led by Wangxing, and Li Xiang (李想), founder of the company has personally invested nearly USD 100 million.

At the same time, the company's old investors Matrix Partners China (经纬中国), ShouGang fund (首钢基金), BlueRun venture capital (蓝驰创投) will also follow. It is reported that Toutiao (头条) also put in about USD 30 million in this round of financing. After this round of financing, Lixiang's (理想) valuation is close to USD 2.9 billion. Lixiang (李想) currently holds about 30% of the shares, and if the investment is completed, Wangxing's stake will be close to 10%.

Wangxing is a big fan of smart new energy vehicles, judging that the first place for electric cars is more likely to be in China than in the United States. China is a big market, with BYD the world's biggest seller last year, selling 400,000 new energy vehicles. He thinks that both challenges and hopes for startups in this market are huge.

Lixiang was founded in July 2015 under the previous name "Chehejia" (车和家). The company has raised more than CNY 7 billion in the past, its first model LI ONE is intended to be a middle-class home SUV. LI ONE made its debut in October 2018.

The company officially announced its sale price on April 10 and began taking pre-orders. After the subsidy, the national unified retail price is CNY 328,000 and will enjoy the purchase tax subsidy policy. The first batch production car will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2019. Its a 5-meter-long extended-range electric SUV with a 40.5 kWh battery pack and a gasoline engine used as an extender (generator), with a range of more than 800 kilometres.