China-based electric car developer Byton is in the process of adding investors to a series C round already backed by carmaker FAW Group with a $500m target for its close, 36Kr reported today.
The potential participants were not disclosed but they include government-led industry investment funds and other institutional investors according to co-founder and CEO Daniel Kirchert, who revealed the round’s progress to 36Kr. FAW agreed in May 2019 to contribute a reported $100m to the round.
Founded in 2016 and originally known as Future Mobility, Byton is developing electric vehicles that include smart features such as a widescreen dashboard screen and a tablet integrated into the steering wheel.
The company yesterday unveiled the production version of its debut sports utility vehicle (SUV) model (pictured), which will boast a 200 mile range per charge, and which is expected to go on sale in China in mid-2020. The series C round will fund research and development for a second and a third SUV model.
Byton had expected to close the round in the first half of this year, and the delay has caused the company to suffer a liquidity crunch. It has already laid off employees in its marketing department in Shanghai and in its technical teams in Silicon Valley earlier this year.
The company expects to launch fundraising efforts for a series D round as soon as the series C round is completed.
FAW led a $500m series B round for Byton in June 2018 that included battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology and TUS Holdings, the asset management arm of Tsinghua University, in addition to undisclosed other backers.
Retail group Suning and diversified holding firm Fullshare Holdings supplied $200m in series B capital for Byton in 2017, after the company had secured $100m in funding across two rounds in 2016 that included a $30m investment from car dealer China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding.
– Image courtesy of Byton.
