Ecarx is building a comprehensive platform for the future of cars, focusing on the likes of auto chips and smart vehicles. Luminar's sensing technology can potentially reach millions of vehicles through the Geely/Ecarx auto empire. The funding will be part of the pair's wider collaboration on automotive-grade technologies, which aims to " enable advanced safety and automated driving capabilities in the production of consumer vehicles and commercial trucks," a plan that Luminar unveiled in May. It's making a strategic investment of an undisclosed amount in Ecarx, an auto tech startup co-founded by Eric Li, founder of China's largest private automaker Geely, Ecarx said on Thursday. Crescent Cove was also an early investor in Luminar, according to Yicai Global.Luminar, the Florida-based lidar company that went public via SPAC in 2020, has formed a close alliance with an auto behemoth in China. “Ecarx’s vertically integrated, full-stack automotive computing platform and underlying core technologies are designed to help meet this evolving demand head-on.”Įcarx, which had operating revenue of $436 million last year, has completed three rounds of financing, in which Geely, Baidu, SIG Asia Investments, and China State-Owned Capital Venture Investment Fund invested, raising about $650 million.Ĭova was registered in the Cayman Islands in December 2020 by Crescent Cove Advisors, a US institutional asset management and private debt firm. “We believe vehicle DNA will transform more in the next decade than it has in the past hundred years, and this shift will drive an extensive change in OEM vehicle development, calling for all-new platforms, advanced computing power and continuous over-the-air software updates,” Shen said. Its products have been installed in 3.2 million cars worldwide, Yicai Global learned. Set up in 2017 by Li and Ziyu Shen, an expert in internet of vehicles tech, Ecarx develops hardware and software solutions essential for the development of connected, automated, and electrified mobility including infotainment head units, digital cockpits, vehicle chip-set solutions, a core operating system, and integrated software stack, according to its website.Įcarx said it has benefited from its connection and privileged access to Geely and has growth potential within Geely’s ecosystem, which comprises Geely Automobile Holdings, as well as Lotus, Proton, Smart, Volvo Cars, and other original equipment manufacturers affiliated with Geely. The proceeds will go to speed up tech development and new product roll-outs, support acquisitions or investments, and create further pathways for global growth through Ecarx's international operations office in London and a product development center in Goteborg, Sweden, the firm said. The deal is subject to approval by their shareholders and regulators.Īccording to the deal, which will give Ecarx’s shareholders about 89 percent of the combined company, the Chinese firm will secure $300 million in cash held in trust by Cova and $45 million in additional capital from strategic partners Geely, US automotive radar tech startup Luminar, and convertible note holder Lotus Technology, Yicai Global reported. Ecarx Holdings(亿咖通科技), an automotive tech firm co-founded by founder of Geely Holding Group Li Shufu, announced on May 26 it will go public in the United States through a merger with a blank-check company that values it at $3.8 billion, according to a report by Yicai Global on May 27.Įcarx plans to debut on the Nasdaq in the fourth quarter of this year under the stock ticker, the Hangzhou-based firm said, citing the agreement it signed with special purpose acquisition company Cova Acquisition.
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