BYD and Momenta Establish Intelligent Driving Joint Venture

One of China’s leading new energy vehicle makers BYD and autonomous driving company Momenta have announced a new joint venture, Shenzhen Dipai Zhixing Technology Co., Ltd. (Dipai Zhixing). This will help the two companies work together to develop high-grade intelligent driving technologies.

According to the announcement issued by BYD, as a domestic leader in new energy vehicles, the company has been deeply involved in the field of smart vehicles. Meanwhile, fellow Chinese firm focused on autonomous driving Momenta has developed the unique data-driven “Flywheel” technology, which will realize more efficient autonomous driving. This can help BYD to boost its technological breakthroughs and achieve mass production in the field of autonomous driving.

According to public information, on November 26, 2021, BYD Auto Industry Co., Ltd. added new foreign investment to Dipai Zhixing.

Dipai Zhixing was established on November 26, 2021, with Yang Dongsheng as its legal representative and a registered capital of 100 million yuan ($15.7 million). The company’s business scope includes Internet of Things application services, an artificial intelligence public data platform, and an artificial intelligence basic resources and technology platform.

The new company is 60% owned by BYD and 40% owned by Momenta.

Momenta (Suzhou) Technology Co., Ltd., established on June 7, 2018, is an autonomous driving technology developer based on deep learning environment perception, high-precision mapping and path planning algorithms. The company is 100% owned by MOMENTA HONGKONG LIMITED.

At present, Momenta has established cooperative partnerships and obtained strategic investment with many leading global automobile manufacturers including SAIC, General Motors, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, as well as tier 1 suppliers such as Bosch.

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On September 15 this year, SAIC announced an additional investment in Momenta. The two companies will further deepen strategic cooperation in the core technologies of intelligent driving, jointly develop a full-stack intelligent driving algorithm, and promote the realization of L4 autonomous driving in China.

In November, Momenta completed a C+ round of financing worth over $500 million. So far, the accumulated financing amount of the firm’s C round has exceeded $1 billion, which is the largest financing in China so far in 2021 within the field of automated driving.

The most recent round was led by Chinese strategic investors SAIC, international strategic investors General Motors, Toyota and Bosch, as well as well-known investment institutions Temasek and YF Capital.