Tencent, invest in "Second NIO".Founder of the robot vacuum cleaner "Roborock" and started EV production

Tencent newly invested in a car manufacturing project

Tencent, the second -largest shareholder of the emerging EV (electric vehicle) manufacturer "NIO", has invested in a new car manufacturing project. Tencent has invested in the ROX MOTOR, a car manufacturing project launched by the founder and CEO of the robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer Roborock. At the end of last year, it raised $ 100 million (about 11.5 billion yen). According to officials, Tencent's investment is more than $ 50 million (about 5.8 billion yen). ROX MOTOR's valuation is $ 2 billion (about 230 billion yen), which is already raising the next fund. The 36kr interviewed this matter, but no comment was obtained from Rox Motor or Tencent. ROX MOTOR was established at the end of 2020 and placed the headquarters in Shanghai. Masataka is the chairman. Masa is a typical car enthusiast and especially likes off -road vehicles. He says that the company's first product is an off -road car with Mercedes -Benz G -class as a benchmark, aiming for a ranged extender and aiming for a cruising range of 1000 km. Compared to NIO's Lee Lee, who appeared in the first boom of emerging car manufacturers, and Mr. Lee of Li Auto, Masao has entered the automotive industry five years later. However, his strength is that the starting point itself is high. He is a person who started Roborock, famous for robot vacuum cleaners. ROBOROCK is one of the ecosystems of major smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi. It was also listed on the Chinese high -tech venture market for high -tech ventures (Star Market), and temporarily recorded a market capitalization of about 100 billion yuan (about 1.8 trillion yen). Looking at Masao's career, he majored in computer science at Hua Minami Science and Technology, worked as a software engineer, and became a senior product manager in Tencent in 2011. Since then, he has established a "magic chart technique", which operates a photo processing and shared app, and founded Roborock in 2014. This may be the reason Tencent still invests in Masa, who has been successful multiple times and has experienced in the software and hardware fields. According to multiple industry officials, Masa is the founder of the "Product Field" car manufacturer, which is currently evaluated by the capital market. He doesn't like to be noticeable and prefers to dig a product, and in his message app Wechat's self -introduction section, he wrote, "I am a product manager." According to a person who has been considering investing in Rox Motor so far, Masa has already rarely involved in Roborock's daily management and has poured most of his time in the car business. He himself tells investors that they will focus on car manufacturing in the future. In 2014, when emerging car manufacturers in China became the first boom, major Internet companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, and MEITUAN were invested in promising companies. In the second boom from 2020 to 2021, entrepreneurs in hardware fields, such as Xiaomi's Thunder Army and Lee Kazuo from Huawei, entered the automotive industry. The only investment side is Tencent again. Until now, super -large companies have been turning to the industry with funds, resources, and backlight effects. In 2019, the ideal train reached an important period of mass production and at the same time, fell into funding, but the Beauty reached the timing, so we were able to get funds to mass -produce. NIO's second -ranked shareholder is Tencent, holding all the B shares of the company, and has the second voting rights to the founder Lee Lee. NIO also suffered a cash flow in 2019, but Tencent acquired the car comprehensive information site "Biauto" and invested in Lee -ri's own shares as collateral. Your circle) was procured. Rox Motor has inevitably expanded in the industry as Rox Motor has been investing in major Internet companies and top -class financial institutions. According to an investment industry official, after Tencent has invested in the Rakugo Train, the company has come to the company from NIO's affiliated Ulsai capital (NIO Capital) and Mitan. Both companies offered to invest in Rakugo Trains, but they were all refused after the consultation. The official analyzed that "Ulsai capital means NIO for Masataka and Mutan means ideal train." According to a person who proposed investment by Tencent, all major internet companies are currently coordinating the power and direction of the investment business, and that Tencent has always invested in ROX MOTOR. It cannot be said that there was. Rather, it is likely that the investment business has shifted to state -of -the -art technology and next -generation energy throughout the major Internet companies. The person further revealed that Tencent was also participating in the road show in the process that the ideal train was listed on the Nasdaq market in the United States and duplicated in the Hong Kong market. However, he abandoned his investment because the valuation was too high and invested in the U.S. EV manufacturer, Rivian, which was listed last year.