NIO-backed autonomous driving chip firm nabs $50 million from Xiaomi, etc.

Beijing (Gasgoo)- RHINO ("Huixi Intelligence" in Chinese), an autonomous driving chip company co-founded by former NIO executive Zhang Jianyong, has recently completed an Angel+ round of funding with more than $50 million raised, said a local media outlet on December 8. 

Photo credit: RHINO

The Angel+ round was strategically led by Xiaomi, and attracted other investors such as CICV, Cathay Capital, Miracle Plus, and GSR Ventures. After the financing round, RHINO is valued at $200 million. 

Founded in April 2022, RHINO is an autonomous driving chip developer focusing on large computing power. It was co-founded by Xu Ningyi, He Guanghui, and Zhang Jianyong. The founding team holds glowing resumes with work experiences in Microsoft Research Asia, Baidu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and NIO. 

An industry insider close to the company disclosed that the company is targeting autonomous driving chips with computing power over 200TOPS for L2++ and above autonomous driving scenarios. Its first product will be a 7nm processor, which is expected to go into mass production in 2024.

At present, the company has attracted such investors as YuanBio Venture Capital, NIO Capital, Zhen Fund, SEE Fund, and Sky9 Capital, and raised hundreds of millions of yuan so far. The company holds R&D centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Hefei.