>>REAL-TIME UPDATES IN THE WIRE. CLICK HERE<<<
Chinese car chip designer SiEngine Technology, backed by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely, has secured nearly 1 billion yuan ($148 million) in its latest funding round led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
“There is huge long-term potential in intelligent car production,” said Tony Xiang Xiaoxiao, a managing director at Sequoia Capital China, according to the statement posted by SiEngine on its official WeChat account. Xiang also indicated that the venture capital firm will support SiEngine to expand its business in the intelligent car, autonomous driving and other industrial fields.
SiEngine said the amount it raised represents the biggest funding recorded in the domestic car chip design sector in the first half of this year.
Its other Series A investors include Chinese software company Neusoft, engineering firm Robert Bosch’s venture capital arm Boyuan Capital and Shanghai-based China Fortune-Tech Capital, an investment firm founded by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
SiEngine is gearing up to start mass production of China’s first automotive-grade 7nm intelligent cockpit chip in the second half, the Wuhan, Hubei province-based company said.
The auto chip Longying No. 1, unveiled by SiEngine in December last year, meets the requirements of the whole vehicle and its output “will be substantial next year,” The Paper reported, citing Chairman Shen Ziyu.
The company has started developing its next-generation chip which is expected to hit the market in 2024, it said. It continues to focus on the automotive-grade high-end processor market and will form three production lines for intelligent cockpit chips, autonomous driving chips, and vehicle-mounted central processing unit chips.