On Dec. 15, He Xiaopeng, chairman of XPENG Motors, announced that the company has completed three rounds of series A+ financing and is scheduled to disclose the series B round in early 2018.
Backed by leading financial and technology leaders, XPENG Motors shows a list of top-tier capital partners. Series A0 went to Alibaba Group and Xiaopeng himself; A1 included GGV Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, IDG, MatrixPartners China, Shunwei Capital and Guangkong Zhongying Capital; and A2 included Xin Ding Capital, Kinzon Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Alibaba announced that XPENG Motors, as a “neighborhood electric vehicle” (NEV) startup, is its most recent strategic investment in Alibaba’s overall auto strategy. Car manufacturing has a century-long history, Alibaba says it respects such history and the long-standing car manufacturers and is looking to add values to the development of auto industry through this partnership, rather than entering auto manufacturing by itself.
Xiaopeng said, “We are beginning to deliver around 1,000 production cars that were released in October to our employees and selected customers. In January 2018, our advanced edition 2.0 will be making its international debut at the International Consumer Electronics Show.”
XPENG Motors was co-founded in 2014 by Xiaopeng, co-founder and president of product at UCWeb Inc. and former president of Alibaba Mobile Business Group together with Xia Heng and He Tao, former technology leaders of Guangzhou Automobile Group Engineering. The company was initially co-funded by Xiaopeng and a group of Chinese internet business entrepreneurs, including Li Xueling, the founder of YY Inc.; Fu Sheng, CEO of Cheetah Mobile; and Wu Xiaoguang, senior management adviser from Tencent.
Among China’s newly rising intelligent and electronic car start-ups, XPENG Motors is the first to receive China Compulsory Certification by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in July 2017 and the first to deliver a production car in October 2017. On Dec. 3, Xiaopeng drove the first plated XPENG car on public roads in Beijing.
XPENG’s first generation model, Identity X, is an all-electric compact SUV. Its four-wheel-drive edition accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (approx. 62 mph) in 5.8 seconds and has a battery range of 300 km (approx. 186 miles). It offers a full range of intelligent and internet functions including auto parking, low-speed following, voice interaction and remote control.
Since the joining of Xiaopeng as chairman, switching his role from an investor and co-founder, XPENG Motors has attracted leading talent across industries, including Laura Xiong, former senior president and marketing head of JD.com and former president of P&G Beauty in Greater China; Dr. Gu Junli, former lead for Tesla Autopilot machine learning; and Liu Minghui, former vice president of China FAW Group Corp. R&D Center, all recently on board as senior executives.
