Baidu-Geely smart car venture completes financing round

Smart electric vehicle firm Jidu Auto, a joint venture tech giant Baidu Inc and carmaker Geely Holding Group set up in March, announced on Wednesday it has finished a round of Series A financing, raising nearly $400 million.

This round was backed by Baidu and its strategic partner multinational auto manufacturer Geely. With the completion of financing, Jidu is set to continue accelerating progress in R&D and mass production.

The brand's first robocar concept will be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April this year, with a mass-produced model set to be launched in 2023, Baidu said in a statement.

In January 2021, Baidu announced plans to enter the automotive industry by launching a smart car company. In March, Jidu was established and received over $300 million in start-up capital.

Moving forward, Jidu will expand its R&D team with a focus on talent acquisition, especially in fields including advanced autonomous driving, smart cockpit and smart manufacturing. It will also build up a system to facilitate user growth and market operation.

"It has only been 10 months since Jidu started its journey," said Xia Yiping, CEO of Jidu. With the support of cutting-edge AI technology combined with a high-quality vehicle platform and manufacturing process, Jidu's automotive robots developed rapidly. When the product is delivered in 2023, it will be a benchmark-level product, Xia said.