Hesai, a China-based developer of light detection and radar (lidar) technology, has received $300m in a series D round co-led by electronics producer Xiaomi and local services portal operator Meituan Dianping, TechCrunch reported today.
The round was co-led with GL Ventures, the venture capital arm of hedge fund manager Hillhouse Capital, and CPE, a private equity subsidiary of investment banking group Citic. It included Lightspeed Venture Partners and its China-based affiliate, Lightspeed China Partners, as well as Qiming Venture Partners and Huatai Securities.
Founded in 2014, Hesai provides lidar technology for use in autonomous driving and robotics systems in addition to handheld and drone-mounted methane leak detectors.
The funding will support the mass production of hybrid solid-state lidar products for original equipment manufacturer customers. It will also finance research and development activities as well as the construction of a smart manufacturing centre.
The company has raised at least $533m to date. Industrial technology and appliance producer Robert Bosch and Lightspeed China Partners co-led its $173m series C round in January 2020, investing with chipmaker ON Semiconductor, Qiming Venture Partners, Detong Capital and Axiom Asia Private Capital.
Hesai had picked up $40m in a 2018 series B round co-led by internet group Baidu, Lightspeed China and ZhenFund with backing from Jiangmen Venture Capital and Grains Valley Venture Capital.
The company’s earlier funding came from investors including Lighthouse Capital Management and Pagoda Investment, through rounds between 2014 and 2017.
Image courtesy of Hesai Technology.