China-based autonomous driving technology developer Momenta.ai raised $500m today in a series C round co-led by industrial technology and appliance producer Bosch and automotive manufacturers SAIC Motor and Toyota.
Singaporean government-backed Temasek and Yunfeng Capital, a private equity firm formed by e-commerce group Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, also co-led the round, which included carmaker Mercedes-Benz, internet group Tencent, Cathay Capital, GGV Capital and Shunwei Capital.
Momenta is developing a data analytics and deep learning-equipped software tool designed to help driverless cars achieve full autonomy through automatic route planning and prediction technology.
Cao Xudong, Momenta’s CEO, said: “This funding marks a new milestone for the company, and the addition of these global partners and capital will help us inject more momentum and help drive Momenta’s product strategy from China to the world.” (Translated from Chinese by Global Corporate Venturing)
The company’s total funding has reached $700m since it was founded in 2016. Tencent had already backed a 2018 round of undisclosed size, investing with Nio Capital, the corporate venturing arm of electric vehicle manufacturer Nio, at a valuation exceeding $1bn.
The round included financial services firm CCB International, China Merchants Group, Pagoda Investment and local government funds for the cities of Shanghai and Suzhou.
Momenta completed a $57m series B round in 2017 featuring Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler, Nio Capital, Cathay Innovation, GGV Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Shunwei Capital, Sinovation Ventures and Unity Ventures.
Shunwei Capital had led a series A1 tranche of undisclosed size earlier in the same year, after the company secured $5m in a 2016 series A round featuring Blue Lake Capital, Sinovation Ventures and ZhenFund.
