Tuesday, March 19

Chinese ‘EV startup Xpeng Motors’ raises $400 million, takes on Xiaomi as key investor

Xpeng Motors, the Chinese electric vehicle startup sponsored by Alibaba and Foxconn, has raised a new infusion of $400 million in capital and has taken on Xiaomi as a strategic investor, the company declared.

The Series C incorporates a unidentified group of key and institutional financial specialists. XPeng Motors Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng, who likewise partook in the Series C, said the got solid help from a considerable lot of its present investors. Xiaomi author and CEO Lei Jun recently put resources into the company.

“Xiaomi Corporation and Xpeng Motors have achieved significant progress through in-depth collaboration in developing technologies connecting smart phones and smart cars,” Xiaomi’s Jun said in an announcement. “We believe that this strategic investment will further deepen our partnership with Xpeng in advancing innovation for intelligent hardware and the Internet of Things.”

The company didn’t unveil what its post-cash valuation is currently. Be that as it may, a source acquainted with the arrangement said it is “better” than the 25 billion yuan valuation it had in its last round in August 2018.

The announcement affirms a prior report from Reuters that refered to unknown sources.

XPeng likewise said it has gathered “several billions” in Chinese yuan of unbound credit lines from establishments, for example, China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank and HSBC. XPeng didn’t intricate when asked what “several billions” signifies.

Brian Gu, Xpeng Motors Vice Chairman and President included that the company has had the option to hit the vast majority of its business and financing focuses in spite of monetary headwinds, vulnerabilities in the worldwide markets and government strategy changes that have had direct effect on by and large vehicle deals in China.

The round comes as XPeng gets ready to dispatch its electric P7 car in spring 2020. Conveyances of the P7 are relied upon to start in the second quarter of 2020.

Xpeng started conveyances of its first generation model the G3 2019 SUV in December and transported 10,000 models by mid-June. The company has since released an improved variant of the G3 with a 520 km NEDC driving reach.

The company intends to launch the P7 in the spring 2020 and will begin conveyance in 2Q 2020.

XPeng has said it needs to IPO, however it’s hazy when the company may document to turn into an open company. No particular IPO timetable has been set and a representative said the company is checking economic situations intently, yet its present spotlight is on building center businesses.

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