Xiaopeng Motors, the electric car start-up backed by Alibaba, said on Monday that it has kicked off a total 2.2 billion yuan (US$350 million) in round B financing, which will be led by Alibaba, Foxconn and IDG Capital, Yicai.com reported.
After the B round, the company will have financed more than 5 billion yuan from the capital market.
Except for Alibaba and IDG Capital, which have invested in the start-up since the A+ round, the world’s leading manufacturing enterprise Foxconn has become the company’s newest investor.
Lu Songqing, the chairman of Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd., thinks that the traditional manufacturing industry is entering the era of the industrial Internet with advanced technology and high intelligence.
To catch up with this trend, Foxconn is expected to be deeply involved in the crucial period of electric car development, as it requires the integration of software and hardware.