VMS invested company Changsha Intelligent Driving Institute Ltd. (“CiDi” or the “Company”) has successfully closed a RMB 300mn Series C round led by Chengdu Science & Tech Innovation Investment. Other earlier round investors such as Ruishi Fund and Qiandao Investment Fund also participated in this round of financing, in addition to new investor Xinxing Asset Management Company of China.

CiDi is a national-level high-tech enterprise focusing on the R&D, product development and implementation of the core technology of autonomous commercial vehicles and C-V2X vehicle-road collaboration. The Company was founded by Professor Li Zexiang of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He participated in the establishment and incubation of several well-known national robotics companies such as Googol Technology, DJI, and Li Qun Automation.

This successful round of financing further solidifies CiDi’s financial strength and at the same time supports the Company’s strategic penetration and market expansion in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. The Chengdu-Chongqing region is located at the junction of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative and the “Yangtze River Economic Belt”, which serves as the starting point of the new land-sea corridor for western Chinese provinces and is an important zone for domestic and international “dual circulations”.

Vanessa Lee, Managing Director & Head of TMT and Consumer of VMS Group’s Private Equity Division commented: “As an earlier round investor of CiDi, we are excited to see the Company’s success in achieving another round of financing and the technological development achieved so far. The overwhelming market response underpins the fundamental attractiveness of the business and strong investor confidence in its future prospect and growth potential”.

VMS is deeply focused on companies that are endorsing technological advancement and innovation, including on the intelligent driving vertical. In addition to CiDi, VMS has also invested in leading autonomous driving companies such as Pony.ai and TuSimple (Nasdaq:TSP). We aim to facilitate our investors in capturing the returns brought about by technological transformation.