LeEco's LeSee Electric Car Division Raises $1.08 Billion

LeSee, the electric car division of Chinese Internet group LeEco, has raised $1.08 billion (about Rs. 7,236 crores) in its first round of funding.

LeSee, which will compete with US-based Tesla's high-end electric cars, has raised the funding from Yingda Capital Management Co Ltd, Shenzhen Capital Group Co Ltd, Legend Holdings, China Minsheng Trust, Macrolink Group and Hongzhao Fund.

"The $1.08 billion funding has set a new benchmark for the global automobile industry. This is a milestone for us. The participation of major institutions is a testament of their appreciation of the ecosystem business model and global strategy of LeEco," LeEco founder and CEO YT Jia said in a statement.

From this point on, LeSee will accelerate towards its goal of building a global electric transportation ecosystem powered by smart Internet technology, he added.

Earlier this year, LeEco's had showcased its electric vehicle concept - LeSee - featuring fully autonomous capabilities, including machine learning of facial, emotion, system, and path recognition.

LeSee is expected to be available to the public within the next three years. Last month, the company had announced that it would invest CNY 12 billion ($1.8 billion) to build an electric car plant in eastern China with eventual annual production capacity of 400,000 cars.