LeEco electric car project gets US$ 1.08 billion funding

LeEco’s electric car division SEE (Super Electric Ecosystem) Plan has completed its first round of funding of US$1.08 billion (Rs 7,240 crore).

Commenting on the development, Y.T. Jia, founder and CEO of LeEco, said, “The US$ 1.08 billion funding has set a new benchmark for the global automobile industry. This is a milestone for us. The participation of major institutions is a testament of their appreciation of the ecosystem business model and global strategy of LeEco. From this point on, LeSee will accelerate towards its goal of building a global electric transportation ecosystem powered by smart internet technology”.

Investors include Chinese state-owned finance institutions as well as conglomerates in the private sector.

Leading investors are listed below:

• Yingda Capital Management, co-owned by the State Grid Corporation of China, China Communication Construction Ltd., and China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp.

• Shenzhen Capital Group, the investment arm of the government of Shenzhen City, one of the major commerce and technology hub of China.

• Legend Holdings, a leading Chinese technology investment companies that also controls global technology giant Lenovo Group.

• China Minsheng Trust, the fourth-largest trust company in China in terms of capital size (as of April 2016)

• Macrolink Group, an industry and finance conglomerate

• Hongzhao Fund, a leading Chinese investment company. Earlier this year, LeEco had showcased its EV concept, LeSEE,  featuring groundbreaking, fully autonomous capabilities, including machine learning of facial, emotion, system, and path recognition.