Chinese internet group Baidu Inc has led a $450-million Series C round into Weltmeister Motor while Orchid Asia has led a $70-million round into Chinese wedding services provider Hunliji.
Baidu Inc leads $450m Series C round into Weltmeister Motor
Electric vehicle maker Weltmeister Motor has raised RMB 3 billion ($450 million) in a Series C round led by Chinese internet group Baidu Inc, which seeks to increase its self-driving advantages in the country’s EV consumption boom, according to an announcement.
State-led asset management company Taihang Industrial Fund, as well as Shanghai-based venture capital firm Linear Venture also participated in the round.
The funds will be put primarily toward delivering an enhanced driving experience, including R&D of an intelligent cockpit. Baidu has been backing the homegrown EV maker for years, leading an earlier round of funding totaling $1 billion in December 2017. The two companies announced a joint R&D autonomous driving venture at the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas earlier this year, after WM Motor joined Baidu’s self-driving open source platform Apollo a year ago.
Orchid Asia leads $70m into Chinese wedding services provider Hunliji
Chinese wedding services provider Hunliji has raised a $70-million Series D1 round of financing led by investment firm Orchid Asia Group Management with the participation of previous investor Matrix Partners China, China Money Network reported.
Hunliji, operated by Hangzhou Huoshao Cloud Technology Co., was launched in 2013 in China’s Hangzhou city to provide online and offline wedding-related services including banquet, filming, planning, car rental, and candy and invitation arrangement.
The online wedding services platform earlier raised $65 million Series C led by Orchid Asia on March 19 last year, according to CrunchBase.
Chinese private equity firm Orchid Asia Group last year raised $1.3 billion for its seventh fund Orchid Asia VII, exceeding the $900-million target announced at the time of the fund’s launch in July 2017.
With offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, Orchid Asia manages about $3 billion of assets.
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