“Horizon” completed the D round of financing, Chery Automobile led the investment

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The Horizon “Car Friends Circle” has added a new member.

Author | Ditu Editor | Xiaohan

Source: Car Stuff

Another domestic chip company has been invested by a big car company!

Today, Horizon announced that it has received investment from Chery. The funds will be mainly used for R&D iterations and mass production applications of automotive smart chips. At the same time, the two sides officially announced that on the basis of the current cooperation in the field of in-vehicle intelligent interaction, the new cooperation in the field of high-level assisted driving has officially begun.

It is understood that since its establishment, Horizon has won the favor of several car companies. Not only has it received a lot of financial support, but it has also reached cooperation intentions with many car companies to carry out in-depth cooperation in the fields of in-vehicle chips and autonomous driving. In addition, Horizon has also received investment from companies and institutions such as Intel, SK Hynix, and CATL.

The strategic investment cooperation between Horizon and Chery is not without a trace. After the two sides reached a cooperation in 2021, while Chery is working hard for electrification transformation, many of its models are gradually getting Horizon chips.

Public information shows that this year’s Chery Tiggo 8 PRO and many other new models have begun to be equipped with the Journey 3 chip. Recently, Chery also launched the “Yaoguang 2025” technology strategy, and Horizon will also serve as the core service provider of the E0X platform in this strategy, and cooperate with Chery in various aspects of “chip + algorithm + tool chain”.

In recent years, with the rise of smart cars, the demand for high-power chips in smart cockpits and autonomous driving systems has also increased.

However, traditional car chip manufacturers are still in a blank state in terms of large-scale vehicle AI chips. Coupled with the impact of geopolitics and Sino-US trade frictions, domestic car companies also urgently need to find independent car chip companies to replace them. and other start-up companies provide excellent opportunities for development.

So, how exactly will Horizon and Chery cooperate? Which car companies and investment institutions have Horizon won in the development process?

01.

Chery’s sales have grown significantly

Recently, the Passenger Federation said that in August this year, Chery Group performed quite prominently in the new energy sector, and it is one of the companies whose wholesale sales exceeded 10,000 vehicles. Data shows that Chery Group’s wholesale sales of new energy manufacturers in August reached 28,778 vehicles, ranking fifth among new energy manufacturers. From January to August, Chery Group’s cumulative sales of new energy vehicles reached 159,373 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 241.2%.

The continuous growth of Chery’s new energy sales is also inseparable from Chery’s new energy strategy. It is understood that Chery Group has accelerated its layout in pure electric, hybrid and other fields, and accelerated the launch and launch of new energy products such as Chery Ant, QQ Ice Cream, Tiggo 8 PLUS Kunpeng e+, Starway Chasing ET-i, and Wujie Pro.

In addition, Chery’s overall sales are also growing. According to public information, from January to August, Chery Group sold a total of 748,550 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 30%; of which, the total number of exports was 250,633 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 51.1%.

During this process, Horizon has gradually grown into a partner of Chery, providing technical support. Public information shows that as early as 2021, the two parties have reached a comprehensive strategic cooperation. In 2022, new models such as Chery Tiggo 8 PRO and OMODA 5 will be equipped with a full-scenario multi-mode interactive solution based on the Journey 3 chip to realize smart cockpit functions.

On September 16, 2022, Chery officially launched the “Yaoguang 2025” forward-looking technology strategy, covering four core areas including Mars Architecture, Kunpeng Power, Lion Technology, and Galaxy Ecology. The 13 core technologies, including the Zhiyun platform and ecological partners, are committed to building a technological innovation chain and a new automotive ecosystem for the new era.

Among them, the E0X platform is an important layout of Chery’s “Yaoguang 2025” forward-looking technology strategy. As the core service provider of this platform, Horizon will be based on the underlying efficient and open technology platform with “chip + algorithm + tool chain” as the core to help Chery accelerate Build a new smart car ecosystem.

According to the plan, Chery’s intelligent electric platform – E0X platform will use the Journey 3 chip to build the cornerstone of computing power. The platform has planned at least five intelligent models for L2+ level and above. The first model, Chery E03, will be launched in 2023, and will realize the NOP assisted driving function in high-speed and urban areas. In addition, the ADAS mass production cooperation model built by the two parties based on the Journey 2 chip will be launched in 2022.

02.

Financing over US$3 billion has been supported by many car companies

Public information shows that since its establishment, Horizon has obtained capital from many car companies such as SAIC Group, GAC Capital, Great Wall Motor, Dongfeng Assets, BYD, FAW Group, as well as Intel, SK Hynix, CATL, Luxshare, Xingyu Co., Ltd., Strategic investment of many upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain such as Weir Shares and Sunny Optical.

According to the data of Qichacha, if the undisclosed financing amount is not counted, Horizon has raised more than 3.4 billion US dollars (about 24.33 billion yuan).

After many car companies have invested, they have also reached a number of cooperation with Horizon in the field of in-vehicle smart chips. It is understood that so far, several car companies’ models have been equipped with Horizon chips, and the two sides have gradually launched deeper cooperation in the field of assisted driving.

On August 10, during an offline exchange event, Horizon Vice President Zhang Hongzhi said that at present, Horizon has reached fixed-point cooperation with more than 20 car companies, and won the fixed-point front-loading of more than 70 models and the shipments of Journey series chips. More than 1 million yuan, more than 100 ecological partners. In terms of team size, Horizon currently has more than 2,000 employees and more than 1,500 R&D personnel.

03.

Conclusion: Horizon’s circle of friends expands again

At present, the wave of “new four modernizations” of automobiles is accelerating the rapid transformation of the automobile industry. The application of artificial intelligence, big data and other technologies has made AI chips the digital engine of automobiles. Moreover, smart cars, defined by vehicle intelligence, are becoming an industry consensus.

As a leading domestic AI chip company, Horizon has become more and more influential and has a wider circle of friends. Facing the fierce competition in the autonomous driving industry, the ecological cooperation between OEM and software/hardware industry chain companies has also become will become the general trend. The strategic investment and cooperation upgrade of Chery Automobile means that Horizon’s development concept, product technology and market prospects have been recognized by another mainstream industrial capital.

(Disclaimer: This article only represents the author’s point of view and does not represent the position of Sina.com.)

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