Shanghai (ZXZC)- Cao Cao Mobility, a ride-hailing platform strategically invested by Geely Technology Group, announced earlier this week it has closed the Series B funding with 3.8 billion yuan ($588.609 million) raised, marking the first domestic equity investment in a ride-hailing service provider for the year of 2021.

Cao Cao Mobility closing Series B financing; photo credit: Cao Cao

The newly-closed financing round attracted five investors, most of which were state-owned companies in Suzhou, according to Cao Cao Mobility.

Cao Cao Mobility will use the money to develop technology, expand its business, improve service quality, and strengthen safeguards for drivers, said Gong Xin, CEO of Cao Cao Mobility.

At the fundraising launching ceremony, Cao Cao Mobility announced a new strategy dubbed “N³”, which stands for three businesses Cao Cao will highlight, namely, New Car (tailor-made cars for ride-hailing service), New Power, and New Ecosystem. Under the new strategy, Cao Cao Mobility aims to hammer out an integrated development planning based on Geely's mobility ecosystem and Suzhou’s industrial ecosystem.

Founded in 2015, Cao Cao Mobility operates in 62 cities and has over 60 million registered users, said Gong Xin. The number of its monthly active users reached 5.679 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to a research report made by the Chinese big data solution platofmr Aurora Mobile, and surpassed 10 million in July, according to a local report.