Shanghai (ZXZC)- HOZON Auto, the owner of EV brand NETA, has nabbed 4 billion yuan ($625.322 million) in its D1 funding round, the Chinese EV startup announced on Oct. 27.

The newly-closed financing round was led by Chinese Internet safety giant 360 Security, who plowed 2 billion yuan ($312.661 million), and involved the participation of CCB International, CITIC Securities, GF Venture Capital, as well as a new energy industrial fund under Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (H.K.) Limited.

NETA S; photo credit: NETA

The leading investor 360 Security announced on Oct. 18 it planned to invest 2.9 billion yuan ($453.36 million) in HOZON Auto. After the investment is completed, it will become the second largest shareholder of the EV startup by indirectly holding 16.594% equity interest.

As of Oct. 25, the Internet security product provider had finished signing relevant contracts for the investment and fulfilled the procedures required by governmental departments.

HOZON Auto was founded in 2014 by Fang Yunzhou, who worked at Chery Auto for 16 years and led Chery's NEV research and development business.

Through seven years of endeavors, HOZON Auto put three production models onto the market for sale, namely, the NETA V, the NETA U Pro, and the NETA N01, with prices ranging from 60,000 yuan ($9,380) to 180,000 yuan ($28,140).

In September, HOZON Auto's monthly insurance registrations hit new highs of 7,032 units, only 311 units fewer than that of Li Auto.

According to the company information inquiry platform Tianyancha, prior to the D1 round, HOZON Auto completed 7 funding rounds with a total of 11.25 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) raised.