"Maotuarui" has received tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing and has launched a new wire-controlled chassis braking and steering motor platform solution. | HardcoreTech First Release

Text | Hu Yiting

Editor | Yuan Silai

HardcoreTech has learned that recently, Maotuarui Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Maotuarui"), a domestic supplier of in-wheel motor for wire-controlled chassis, has completed a tens of millions of yuan angel round of financing. This round is exclusively invested by the SME Development Fund managed by Oriental Fortune Capital, and Yuanshan Capital serves as the exclusive financial advisor. The funds will be used for the construction of the mass production line of in-wheel motor for wire-controlled chassis and the development of cutting-edge motor technology.

Maotuarui was established in 2023, with the main business of researching, developing and selling in-wheel motor for wire-controlled chassis, a core component of automobiles, serving the new energy vehicle industry chain. Currently, the company has completed the research and development of motor platforms such as EPS (Electric Power Steering), EHB (Electro-Hydraulic Brake), and EMB (Electro-Mechanical Brake), and has contacted and collaborated with more than 10 international and domestic wire-controlled chassis Tier 1 (first-level suppliers). At the same time, Maotuarui has begun to prepare for the second stage of mass production.

With the production and sales of new energy vehicles exceeding ten million, the demand for wire-controlled chassis, which supports its intelligent transformation, is also continuously increasing. According to the data from the Gaogong Intelligent Vehicle Research Institute, it is expected that by 2026, the market size of the domestic passenger vehicle wire-controlled chassis actuator system will reach 65 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 35.4% from 2022 to 2026.

The wire-controlled chassis is mainly composed of three core structures: braking, steering, and suspension. It uses electrical signal forms to replace the traditional mechanical connection. Compared with the traditional chassis, it can improve the response speed and accuracy, and more quickly realize the vehicle's steering, braking, suspension adjustment and other actions. It is also a supporting technology for achieving high-level autonomous driving.

The structure of the wire-controlled chassis, Image source: Enterprise

Among them, the motor is the core hardware of the wire-controlled chassis and also the investment direction of Maotuarui. However, in the research and development and production of the motor, due to reasons such as high technical difficulty and scarcity of key talents, EPS and EHB motors have long been monopolized by foreign capital, and new technologies such as EMB and SBW (Steering-By-Wire) motors have also become difficult to break through.

The in-wheel motor for wire-controlled chassis, Image source: Enterprise

Xu Mingmao, the founder of Maotuarui, told HardcoreTech that compared with the traditional mechanical system, the wire-controlled system solution directly controls the motor through electrical signals, which can significantly shorten the response time of the chassis, improve the safety and comfort of the system, and the motor plays a crucial role. The current mainstream suppliers of this type of chassis motor are international component manufacturers such as Nidec, and the share of local suppliers is still very small. Especially for the batch delivery of some new technologies such as EMB, domestic suppliers will face greater challenges.

The core team of Maotuarui comes from global top 100 automotive industry suppliers such as Continental. Through a new forward development, it creates an electromagnetic platform suitable for the new needs of the intelligent chassis. Maotuarui can meet the requirements of high instantaneous output power and large current of the chassis motor products, and also make its motor products have the performance advantages of high precision, small size, stable operation, and long service life.

In terms of strategic layout, Maotuarui's first stage focuses on the steering and braking sectors, serving the current mainstream EHB and EPS mass production solutions; at the same time, it has completed the first platform solution adapted to the EMB requirements and completed the delivery of samples to some potential customers.

Currently, the company's team members all have international Tier 1 work experience, and the core members responsible for production and research have more than 15 years of experience in the research and development and mass production of chassis motors and actuators. The founder, Xu Mingmao, has nearly 20 years of work experience in the automotive industry. He once worked for a leading domestic vehicle manufacturer and was also the former regional sales director of a major customer of an international Tier 1.

Next year, based on the completed product development stage, Maotuarui will put into production in Shanghai and continuously expand the team and product matrix.

Investor's Perspective:

Tang Ruide, Partner of Oriental Fortune Capital SME Development Fund, said: The chassis motor is one of the most core components of the automotive wire-controlled chassis. With the increase in the penetration rate of the wire-controlled chassis brought about by the intelligence of automobiles and the iteration of technical products, it will bring a broad market space. At the same time, the product technology of the wire-controlled chassis motor is highly difficult, and there is a lack of domestic suppliers. Currently, it is mainly monopolized by foreign manufacturers. The core team of the company is relatively complete and outstanding in terms of technical ability, mass production ability, and business ability. It has a relatively mature product and technical solution, as well as rich engineering mass production and landing experience. It is one of the few teams in China with the forward research and development and mass production capabilities of the chassis motor. It is hoped that this financing can accelerate the company's product mass production process and develop rapidly together with the climb of the downstream domestic wire-controlled chassis mass production.