HOZON Auto banks over 100 million yuan in D3 round from Dayone Capital

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- HOZON Auto, the Chinese startup owning the new energy vehicle ("NEV") brand NETA, has bagged hundreds of millions of yuan from Dayone Capital for its D3 funding round, according to a press release from Dayone Capital.

Founded in October 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai, HOZON Auto has two manufacturing bases, which are located in Tongxiang of Zhejiang Province and Yichun of Jiangxi Province. It has set up a design studio in Beijing and an R&D center in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province.

In June 2018, HOZON Auto launched its self-owned auto brand, NETA, under which two production models—the NETA U and the NETA V—are currently for sale and one model (the NETA S) is about to hit the market.

For the first half of 2022, HOZON Auto delivered 63,131 new vehicles with a year-on-year surge of 199%, honored the runner-up among Chinese NEV startup.

NETA S; photo credit: Dayone Capital

According to the corporate information provider Tianyancha, HOZON Auto has to-date completed ten rounds of financing, which attracted such big-name companies as 360 Security, CATL, and CRRC Corporation Limited.

360 Security claimed in October 2021 it would invest 2.9 billion yuan ($429.974 million) in HOZON Auto. After completing the transaction, the cybersecurity giant would become HOZON Auto's second largest automaker by obtaining a 16.594% stake.

The cybersecurity giant announced last month its wholly-owned subsidiary, 360 (Beijing) Private Equity Management Co., Ltd. (“360 Private Equity”) intended to transfer the registered capital of around 79.994 million yuan ($11.86 million) it holds in HOZON Auto, equivalent to 3.532% stake in the NEV startup.

According to 360 Security's announcement, 360 Private Equity had not actually paid for the aforesaid registered capital.

Upon completion of the equity transfer, 360 Security would still control 11.4266% stake in HOZON Auto.