Chinese EV maker Xpeng Motors, backed by Alibaba, is in talks to raise around $300 million in funding ahead of an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., CNBC reported on Friday citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, is one of the investors in the funding round, the report said.
The final amount raised might be higher than $300 million as a number of investors are still in discussions to put money into Xpeng, the sources said.
Earlier today, the IFR reported that Xpeng Motors plans a $700 million U.S. IPO in August. Bank of America, Credit Suisse, and JPMorgan Chase are handling this.
This will follow the company's closing of a C+ round of nearly $500 million in funding earlier this month, with major investors including Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital, and Sequoia China.
Before this funding round, Xpeng's most recent funding took place in November last year, when the company received a $400 million Series C round of funding from veteran shareholders including Xiaomi Group and Morningside Capital and Matrix Partners. According to Bloomberg, Xpeng reached a $4 billion valuation this round.
In June, Xpeng was rumored to have secretly filed IPO documents with the US stock market, planning to raise $500 million.