Yair Shacked, executive director at Nio Capital, has converted an executive MBA at Tsinghua–Insead into a leading role investing within the electric and smart vehicle ecosystem.
Nio Capital was cofounded by electric vehicle maker Nio (formerly NextEV), venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China and asset manager Hillhouse Capital in December 2016. Its inaugural, renminbi-denominated fund has a target size of RMB10bn ($1.5bn) and Nio Capital has approached investors about raising a $500m fund targeting the automotive sector, according to PEHub.
Shacked was made an executive director of Nio Capital in July, having spent the previous five months as a senior adviser. He had converted the two years of study at Tsinghua and Insead into co-founding a technology consultancy following six years at Orbotech.
Nio Capital has invested between $303m and $455m through the renminbi fund in 15 startups, with recent deals including a $57m series B round for autonomous driving technology developer Momenta.
The $500m vehicle will focus on China-based companies exploiting overseas structures, such as variable-interest entities, and international businesses.
Originally known as NextEV, Nio has developed an electric, seven-seat sports car equipped with a personalised digital assistant. Nio has also created a supercar dubbed EP9, which has achieved the fastest speeds of any electric vehicle to date. An autonomous, electric vehicle is scheduled for a US release by 2020.
The company has reportedly raised $2bn to date. Its shareholders include internet company Tencent, which led a $1bn funding round late last year with participation from Lone Pine Capital, Citic Capital and Baillie Gifford.
Other backers include internet company Baidu, e-commerce group JD.com, consumer electronics provider Lenovo, IDG Capital, TPG, Hillhouse Capital, GIC Private, TPG, Hop Investment Management, Joy Capital and Shunwei Capital.
Temasek, the investment firm owned by Singapore’s government, has also invested in Nio.