SAIC invests in Momenta’s new funding round

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China’s biggest automaker SAIC Motor participated in the new financing round of Chinese leading autonomous driving startup Momenta after it became the startup’s biggest institutional investor in March, the automaker announced on Wednesday without disclosing the amount of the investment.

Both parties will further deepen their strategic cooperation in core technologies of intelligent driving, jointly develop full-stack intelligent driving algorithm and accelerate the application L4 autonomous driving in China, the automaker added in a statement.

Photo credit: Momenta

The startup will accelerate its IPO plan and have the intent to set up a joint venture with BYD to promote the implementation of autonomous driving technologies, the outlet reported citing sources close to the matter.  

In March this year, Momenta said it had raised $500 million for its Series C funding, which was led by SAIC Motor, Toyota, Bosch, Temasek and YunFeng Capital. Other investors include Mercedes-Benz, GGV Capital, ShunWei Capital, Tencent and Cathay Capital. After the round, SAIC became the largest shareholder of Momenta.

Photo credit: SAIC Group

According to the Shanghai-based auto giant, the first model under “IM”, the smart BEV brand jointly developed by SAIC, Shanghai Pudong New Area and Alibaba Group, will adopt the technical solution from Momenta. The model will go on sale in 2022.