Internet group Baidu and carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group supplied $400m in a series A round raised by their China-based electric vehicle (EV) joint venture, Jidu, as China’s EV ecosystem develops further. The series A money will go toward research and development (R&D) efforts and mass production of the company’s products due to begin next year. Its first concept car model is set to be released at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show in April 2022.
Incubated in March 2021 with $300m, Jidu is developing an artificial intelligence-enhanced autonomous EV system equipped with machine learning algorithms that help improve its self-driving capabilities. Baidu reportedly owns a 55% stake in Jidu, while Geely holds the remainder. The joint venture was first revealed in January 2021.
Jidu is part of the broader EV tech space, which has been very hot in both public and private markets in recent years and also been on the radar of corporate venture investors, as our GCV Analytics bar chart below shows. The number of corporate-backed deals in this area has remained mostly stable over the past few years but the total estimated capital deployed in them has been climbing higher, which suggests an upward pressure in valuations.
