- General
- September 22, 2020
- 4 minutes read
WM Motor Bags $1.5 Billion
Photo credit: WM Motor WM Motor, a Chinese electric vehicle upstart, has said that it’s raised 10 billion yuan…
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| Photo credit: WM Motor |
WM Motor, a Chinese electric vehicle upstart, has said that it’s raised 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in its latest financing round to further its operations. Among investors who provided the new funding include Chinese tech giant Baidu; SIG Ventures, a US-based venture capital firm; SAIC Motor, a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer; along with investment firms backed by the Chinese government. The new funding boosts the total amount of financing that WM Motor has raised since its inception to over $3 billion, on pair with the size of funding that other Chinese electric vehicle counterparts such as Xpeng, Nio, and Li Auto have raised both on the private and public markets.
As of late, there seems to be enthusiasm for Chinese electric car makers, with two of such carmakers, Xpeng and Li Auto, having held recent successful public listings in the US. Xpeng’s public listing raised $1.5 billion for its operations while that of Li Auto raised $1.1 billion for its operations. It’s such that WM Motor has raised a similar amount on the private markets and is said to be further targeting a public listing of its own. Developing automobiles is usually a capital-intensive operation so it’s no surprise that electric carmakers are raising such amounts both in China and the US. For example, Rivian, a US-based electric car upstart, has raised more than $5 billion in private funding. Lucid Motors, another such carmaker, has raised over $1 billion in funding. More of them such as Lordstown Motors and Canoo have clinched deals to raise money from the public markets by the way of reverse listings.
WM Motor was founded only in 2015 and has debuted two electric vehicles so far. Already the company has sold tens of thousands of vehicles to customers, sales organized via a dealership network spanning over 100 cities in China. Both of WM’s vehicles, the EX5-Z and EX6 Plus, are both SUVs. Currently, WM has a functioning automotive factory with capacity to produce 100,000 units annually. The company is also fresh off the construction of a second facility, both in China.
WM says it’ll use the new capital it’s raised to invest in research & development, brand building, marketing and sales expansion. The company plans to employ a team of 3,000 engineers to bolster its manufacturing operations.
