China EV maker Hozon raises $961m in crossover funding

It comes about a year after a CNY 3bn round – the third tranche of a Series D – featuring Shenzhen Capital Group, Qianhai FoF, Hongtai Capital, Dayone Capital, Insight Capital, and Dianshi Capital, among others. The first and second tranches closed on CNY 4bn in October 2021 and CNY 2bn in February 2022.

Other investors include CRRC Corporation, a leading manufacturer of locomotives and rolling stock, security software provider Qihoo 360 Technology, CCB International, CITIC Securities, GF Venture Capital, and a fund under brokerage Shenwan Hongyuan.

Hozon has reportedly raised more than CNY 22bn across 10 funding rounds since its inception. Last year, it became the first of China’s “new force” EV makers – Nio, Xpeng, WM Motor Technology, and Lixiang Automotive are the most prominent members – to achieve annual sales of more than 150,000 units. This compares to around 69,000 units in 2021. Total shipments to date surpassed 300,000 units in June.

Hozon was founded in 2014 by Beijing Sinohytec, a hydrogen energy business, and a research institute under Tsinghua University. Its first concept car was announced in 2017. An autonomous vehicle research centre opened in Silicon Valley in 2018 followed by a design centre in Beijing in 2019.

There are currently four models in production: the Neta GT sportscar, the Neta S midsize sedan, the Nezha U compact SUV, and the Neta V or Aya subcompact SUV. The Neta V and Neta S accounted for 70% of the 13,029 units shipped in May.

Hozon’s crossover round represents the largest funding event for a Chinese EV maker so far this year and the fourth to surpass USD 500m. Two of the others involve traditional automaker Geely. The company raised USD 750m for its Zeekr EV brand in February – at a valuation of USD 13bn – and USD 600m for its Farizon Auto commercial new energy vehicle brand in July.

The other bumper round came earlier this month when Evergrande New Energy Vehicle, the EV unit of distressed property developer China Evergrande, secured USD 500m.

Meanwhile, Xpeng agreed to buy the EV unit of local ride-hailing player Didi for USD 744m in an all-stock deal. This will lead to the launch of an all-new EV brand next year aimed at the mass-market segment. Xpeng, like most of its new force peers, has largely focused on premium EVs.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Industrials
• Cleantech
• China
• Electric Vehicles
• Growth capital