[Lieyun Network (WeChat: ilieyun) Beijing] reported on February 11
Since announcing the car, Xiaomi has begun to rapidly promote the car manufacturing process, investing in a large number of companies related to the upstream and downstream of new energy vehicles.
Recently, Tianyancha data shows that Zhilu Technology completed a total of 100 million yuan in C round financing, led by Xiaomi Group, and other participating institutions include Yonghua Investment, Yuanhe Holdings, and Leading Venture Capital. It is understood that the funds raised this time will be used for the research and development of high-voltage electrical connection and high-voltage distribution management solutions, expand the scale of production, and improve the commercial layout.
According to the official website of Zhilu Technology, the company was founded in 2010, the main core components of new energy vehicles, providing vehicle high-voltage connection solutions, core products include high-voltage connectors, charging and replacing connectors, high-voltage distribution units, etc., the business can cover the power battery, drive motor, three-electric technology to vehicle manufacturing, charging and replacing facilities The entire new energy vehicle industry chain.
It is reported that by mid-2022, Zhilu Technology can have an annual supporting capacity of 3 million new energy vehicles, and its customers cover a number of mainstream automobile OEMs at home and abroad and three electric suppliers.
Since 2015, Zhilu Technology has completed a total of five rounds of financing from angel round to C round, and Xiaomi has also further touched the field of electrical systems of new energy vehicles through the leading investment of Zhilu Technology, expanding its investment matrix for new energy projects.
The new energy matrix was further expanded
In fact, Xiaomi has long invested in the upstream and downstream of the new energy vehicle industry chain.
According to the data of Tianyancha, as early as November 2019, Xiaomi participated in the C round of financing of Xiaopeng Automobile, a new car-making force.
In April 2020, Xiaomi invested in the Internet of Vehicles service provider PATEO Internet of Vehicles; in June of the same year, it entered the BYD Semiconductor A+ round, touching the field of automotive-grade semiconductors; and then in July, it intervened in the D round financing of commercial vehicle energy supplier Energy Chain Group.
In 2021, after Xiaomi officially announced the construction of the car, it accelerated the layout of the new energy vehicle industry chain. On July 30 of the same year, Xiaomi participated in a total investment of 11.25 billion yuan in the power battery industry Honeycomb Energy and Ganfeng Lithium Battery in one day; in November, Xiaomi added 70 million US dollars to lidar company Hesai Technology in the D+ round, and invested in solid-state lithium battery manufacturer Weilan New Energy.
In addition, the Yangtze River Xiaomi Industry Fund, which was initiated by Xiaomi, has successively invested in nearly ten new energy vehicle industry chain companies in 2021, such as Jiachen Electronics, a developer of new energy electric vehicle control systems, Black Sesame Intelligence, a manufacturer of automatic driving computing chips, Yuntu, a semiconductor developer in the field of automotive-grade chips, a geometric partner of developers of automatic driving software and hardware products, and a supplier of automatic driving and advanced driver assistance system technology products.
Entering 2022, Xiaomi's chess pieces in the field of new energy have fallen on Smart Green Technology, which focuses on electrical systems, Fute Technology, a supplier of core components for new energy vehicles, and Micro-source photons, a supplier of core components for smart automotive sensors.
After a number of investments, Xiaomi's new energy vehicle industry chain has covered various branches from auto parts such as lidar to power batteries, electrical systems, automotive chips and automobile sales.
Speed up the car-making process
Car manufacturing, which is regarded by Lei Jun as a "second venture" business, has been highly regarded by Lei Jun and Xiaomi from the beginning. Lei Jun once said: "This is the last major entrepreneurial project in my life, I decided to personally lead the team, I am willing to bet all the accumulated records and reputation in my life to fight for Xiaomi Car." ”
Also since Xiaomi officially announced the car in March 2021, Xiaomi has made frequent moves in the automotive field, and has invested in nearly 40 automotive industry chain enterprises, covering many core technology areas of the industrial chain such as intelligent driving, on-board chips, and power batteries, and constantly improving its own automotive industry chain ecology.
In addition to accelerating the pace of "buying, buying and buying", Xiaomi is also a multi-dimensional rapid promotion of car-making projects.
On September 1, Xiaomi Automobile completed its registration in Beijing, and its first factory will land in Yizhuang, and applied for registration of many trademarks such as "Xiaomi Travel", "Xiaomi Zhixing", "XIAOMI MOTORS", "XIAOMI AUTO", "MIMOTORS", "MIAUTO" and so on.
At the same time, Xiaomi has accelerated the speed of recruitment.
Xiaomi's 2021 Q3 performance announcement shows that "the smart electric vehicle business is progressing smoothly, and the team members have exceeded 500 people." At the beginning of September, Xiaomi said that the number of car-making business teams was nearly 300. This means that in just two months, the size of Xiaomi's team has increased by 200 people.
Entering 2022, Xiaomi has not stopped in the competition for talent.
At the beginning of January, Xiaomi announced the appointment of Yu Liguo as vice president of Xiaomi Automobile and political commissar of Xiaomi Automobile Beijing Headquarters, responsible for coordinating the comprehensive management of Xiaomi Automobile, the promotion of special business, and the organization and talent construction of Xiaomi Automobile Beijing Headquarters.
At the same time, Zeng Xuezhong, senior vice president of Xiaomi Group and president of the mobile phone department, said that Lei Jun requires the mobile phone department to become the technical middle office of the Xiaomi Group, which can incubate and drive some innovative businesses, one of which is to transfer talents and technology to the automotive business.
It can be seen that the car industry chain is huge and complex, and software is the first problem that Xiaomi wants to solve through internal talent transportation.
Lei Jun once set up a Flag that Xiaomi Car will mass-produce in 2024, and now there are two years left, leaving xiaomi time to build cars is running out, Xiaomi must use all resources to build cars, looking forward to Xiaomi's final answer.