Tencent, IDG Capital invest in Chinese auto startup ROX’s Series E financing round

Beijing (Gasgoo)- ROX, the auto startup project founded by Chang Jing, the founder and CEO of China’s intelligent cleaning robot company Roborock, has reportedly closed its Series E financing round, which was led by Tencent and IDG Capital.

Photo credit: ROX

The startup was founded in January 2021, and received its first round of financing three months after its establishment. In April 2021, ROX completed an angel round of financing, which valued it at $240 million, with investors such as Gaorong Capital and Northern Light Venture Capital. 

In January 2022, ROX bagged $100 million in Series B financing, in which Tencent led a $50 million investment and Sequoia Capital also participated. In April 2022, ROX closed another round of financing with about $200 million raised, which boosted the startup’s valuation to $2 billion. The round was led by Coatue, a US hedge fund, and followed by Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, and other well-known institutions.

In January 2023, it is said that ROX plans to launch its first vehicle model in the third quarter of the year. Similar to the Chinese tech giant Huawei’s “Huawei Smart Selection” automaking pattern, it is possible that ROX will also cooperate with automakers, providing them with product definition, marketing, and core intelligence technologies, instead of producing vehicles independently. The most likely automaking partner to ROX is Beijing Automobile Works Co., Ltd. (BAW), said several local media channels.

The sources disclosed that ROX and BAW’s first cooperative model may be a rugged-looking off-roader riding on a range extension system with an estimated price of roughly 400,000 yuan. In view of the industry's current average battery-powered range of about 200km, the intelligent range extension system of ROX is likely to carry a battery with higher energy capacity, to improve the overall range of the vehicle to more than 1,000km.