China VC Weekly: Smart EVs, Medical Robots and EDA
Smart EV maker ENOVATE completes pre-IPO round of 5 billion yuan
Chinese smart EV manufacturer ENOVATE announced on Wednesday that it has completed its latest funding round, raising nearly 5 billion yuan ($742 million). The new round comes ahead of the company’s planned initial public offering (IPO) slated for 2021.
Investors participating in the round were not specified by the Shanghai-based company. ENOVATE did, however, disclose that the transaction was led by Chinese local government industry guidance funds and large state-owned banks. The company started its pre-IPO preparations right after completing the round.
ENOVATE’s first vehicle model, the 5+X intelligent electric SUV ME7, was officially launched this September at a starting price of 218,800 yuan ($32,456) after subsidies. The model is equipped with an interconnection screen, an intelligent driving system, AI-enabled driving assistance functions, as well as advanced technologies like facial recognition.
Previously, the company raised over 2 billion yuan ($297 million) in a Series A round from large listed companies with participation from Chinese government-led funds and other institutional investors. In April 2019, another financing round brought the total capital raised by the firm to more than 6.5 billion yuan ($964 million).
About ENOVATE
Founded in 2015, ENOVATE joined the list of Chinese EV market players seeking to cash in on the rapid development of the world’s largest automotive market and the growing demand for smart mobility solutions.
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Medical robot maker Jointech raises a 100-million-yuan series B round
Chinese medical robot company Jointech (Jianjia Robots) announced that it recently raised more than 100 million yuan ($14.72 million) in a Series B round of funding. One of the largest Chinese investment funds, Hillhouse Capital, major Chinese drug company Fosun Pharmaceutical and the startup’s existing shareholder, Baidu Ventures, took part in the joint investment round.
HaoYue Capital served as a financial advisor in the deal, as it did earlier this year during Jointech’s Series A round of financing, in which the startup raised tens of millions of yuan. The company will use the new funds for the clinical registration of its joint replacement surgical robots as well as for the research and development of new products, according to the announcement.
About Jointech
The company, established in 2018, develops and manufactures orthopedic surgical robots using artificial intelligence and provides precise solutions for artificial joint replacement surgery, covering all processes before, during and after operations.
EDA startup X-EPIC bags 100 million yuan in Pre-A round of financing
Nanjing-based EDA startup X-EPIC, has raised a 100 million yuan Pre-A round of financing, led by China V Fund (Yuhui Capital), with Dashu Evergreen and Zhen Fund participating in the investment.
X-EPIC founder Wang Libin said that after this round of financing, the company will accelerate the global deployment of its R&D forces and breakthroughs in integration with cutting-edge technologies, develop EDA verification products and systems required for chip design, and improve China’s EDA industry chain.
He also noted that the company’s goal is to break through existing technical barriers, develop full-process EDA verification tools and systems, and launch products spanning areas of hardware simulators, FPGA prototype verification, formal verification, intelligent verification, and logic simulation.
About X-EPIC
Established in March 2020, X-EPIC is actively involved in building up China’s own EDA (Electronic Design Automation) industrial software technology. Core members are all from international leading EDA, integrated circuit design, software and artificial intelligence companies with an average of more than 20 years of experience.
