Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Ten years ago, in November 2014, William Li decided to invest his $150 million fortune to establish a new electric vehicle startup in China. At the time, Li was joined by several well-known founding investors, including Lei Jun, the founder and CEO of the Chinese tech giant Xiaomi.
Lei Jun, who recently celebrated breaking the record by producing 100,000 electric vehicles in just 230 days, posted a video on Monday showcasing his attendance at the Guangzhou Auto Show in China.
In the video, when asked, “So, you were one of the earliest investors in Nio?” the chief executive responded, “Oh no, no. It was William Li who gave me the opportunity (to invest in the company).”
In a recent livestream, Nio’s chief executive mentioned that the company had six founding investors, including Lei Jun but also Li Xiang, the founder of the carmaker Li Auto.
“Nio initially had six founding investors, and Mr. Lei was one of them. He was probably the very first person to know I wanted to build cars—he knew back in 2013,” Nio founder and CEO said.
“Li Xiang was also one of our earliest investors. Later, they both started building cars themselves, and now we’re teammates, fighting in the same trench,” William Li added referring to the founder of Beijing-based new energy vehicle (NEV) maker Li Auto.
According to a report from the Chinese media outlet IT Home, Lei Jun said during Nio’s annual event in 2018 that he was convinced by William Li due to this commitment and knowledge.
“When William Li approached me, I thought internet car-making was simply a scam. However, what convinced me was, first, that William Li was the most knowledgeable about cars among all the founders of internet car companies, and second, his significant commitment. I greatly admired William Li’s courage and decided to support him,” IT Home reported citing Lei Jun.
Xiaomi delivered more than 20,000 electric vehicles in October, seven months after starting mass-producing its first model, the SU7. Earlier this week, the company increased its annual delivery target and aims now to deliver 130,000 units in 2024.
In May, Lei Jun and a team of Xiaomi executives visited Nio’s Shanghai headquarters to view the company’s latest model, the L60, which was introduced under Nio’s sub-brand, Onvo.
Xiaomi, known for its smartphones, is preparing to release its second model next year and will rival the debut model of Onvo, Nio’s first sub-brand.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
