Ambitious Chinese technology company LeEco raised more than $1 billion in funding for its electric car business, with the goal of having its LeSee ‘super cars’ on the road in three years.
Investors include Legend Holdings, Shenzhen Capital Group, State Grid Yingda Group, China Minsheng Trust and Macrolink Group, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
In August the firm announced plans to invest CNY20 billion ($3 billion) to build an electric car production facility in Zhejiang province in China, with a planned production capacity of 400,000 cars per year.
The moves put LeEco in direct competition with Tesla in the fast growing electric car space, but analysts say the Chinese firm will struggle to build a reputation in the luxury car market that is dominated by foreign brands.
The SCMP quoted Liu Gang, GM at Shenzhen Capital, as saying: “We are bullish on the autonomous driving and electric vehicle industry – it will be the next big thing in China.”
Liu said that he is optimistic about LeSee as LeEco’s TV and smartphone business shows the company is able to quickly find success in new ventures.
LeEco, previously known as LeTV, is a relative newcomer to the smartphone market and better known in China for its streaming video service. In July it added an 11 per cent stake in smartphone maker Coolpad, making it the largest shareholder in the firm with a 29 per cent interest.
LeEco announced its LeSee concept car (pictured above) in April. In February luxury carmaker Aston Martin announced it was partnering with LeEco to develop a range of next-gen connected electric vehicles, including a production version of Aston Martin’s RapidE concept car.
Comments