Shanghai (ZXZC)- China-based EV startup WM Motor announced on March 8 a completion of a series C round financing that raised a total of RMB3 billion, which is expected to further elevate the company's valuation.

The latest fundraising is led by Baidu and involves other investors such as Linear Venture and Taihang Industrial Fund. The capital raised this time will be used to research and develop technologies and improve users' experience. Up until now, the startup has cumulated nearly RMB23 billion in all rounds of fundraising.

Freeman Shen, founder, chairman and CEO of WM Motor, stated that the EV maker is going to upgrade its technology, products, new retail modes as well as intelligent manufacturing ability in 2019. To be specific, WM Motor will strengthen its deployment in autonomous driving area and is ambitious to make a breakthrough in R&D of intelligent cockpit. To meet consumers' more diversified needs, the company will focus on upgrading product quality, enriching product matrix and mass producing cutting-edge technologies. Moreover, the startup will also make efforts to lift its capabilities in delivery and service, optimize and enlarge offline marketing channels and reinforce the C2M (Customer-to- Manufactory) manufacturing ability as well the ability to industrialize R&D achievements, so as to expand production capacity and accelerate mass delivery.

As for the deployment in technology R&D, WM Motor will team up with Baidu to co-build and co-operate the "WM Motor & Baidu Apollo Intelligent Vehicle Joint Research Center" for the R&D of L3/L4 autonomous driving solutions.

On February 26, the startup appointed Dr. Mei Songlin (梅松林), former Vice President and Managing Director of China Operations for J.D. Power Asia Pacific, as its Chief Data Officer. Meanwhile, Liu Xianzhi (刘宪志) was named as the company's Vice President, who will take charge of auto finance business.