author: Michael Cheng

Funding rounds are becoming extremely common in the emerging EV sector, as the market moves in to overtake outdated, gas-powered cars. A private financing round that recently shook up the Chinese EV industry was held by Future Mobility earlier this month.

The event, which raised an impressive $200 million, attracted several investors, such as Suning Commerce Group, the holding arm of real estate developer Full Share Group. According to reports from Caixin, the business initially started as a joint venture with Tencent Holdings and Foxconn Future Mobility. Both companies backed out of the deal, causing new investors to step in (Jinheng Investments, Harmony Auto and Lenovo Group's venture capital arm Legend Capital – just to name a few).

New Investors, New Goals

Future Mobility intends to use the newly acquired funds to streamline research and production. The startup is in the process of building a new factory in China's Jiangsu province, worth $1.7 billion. With the manufacturing plant in full swing, it will have the capacity to push out 300,000 cars per year. The business is firmly established in Beijing, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley and Munich.

"I have to say the investment environment has become much tougher," said Daniel Kirchert, Future Mobility's president. "In an early stage one or two years ago there was a big hype, but now people have already seen some companies struggling and failing, so investors of course are getting more careful."

If all goes according to plan, the business could have up to three different EV models available for consumers by 2022. One of the vehicles will be a premium, midsize crossover SUV. Predicted to compete directly with the Tesla Model 3, the vehicle could come with an estimated price tag of $44,000 (before tax). New battery technology and an increase in EV demand could affect the price of the startup's EVs. Future Mobility will likely offer all three units to the following regions and countries: China, Europe and the United States.

Targeting the Global EV Market

The startup has plans to take on the international EV market – one country at a time. Future Mobility will start accepting reservations for its products after it reveals the company's first concept vehicle, which is slated for the first quarter of 2018 at CES in Las Vegas. Don't expect to be able to drive around the car any time soon, as the vehicle won't be released to commercial markets until 2019.

"China has the potential to have two to three Tesla-size companies and that means globally successful electric-car makers," said Kirchert during a media briefing. "We are hoping to be one them. So we are based in China and have an eye for the global market."

With a team consisting of BMW executives and engineers from Google (before Waymo) and Tesla, many people are counting on the startup to pioneer the EV industry in China. But in order to accomplish such feat, it must be prepared to take on large, international automotive brands, as well as Chinese EV startups with decades of experience serving local consumers.