Former XPeng co-founder launches intelligent electric motorcycle and secures tens of millions of dollars in financing | Early-stage project

Author | Zhang Ziyi

Editor | Peng Xiaoqiu

Recently, the intelligent electric motorcycle brand OMOWAY (Muwei Technology) announced the completion of tens of millions of dollars in seed and angel round financing. This financing was jointly invested by ZhenFund, Sequoia Capital, and Huiyou Capital, with OMOWAY founder He Tao and the core team participating in the follow - on investment. The financing funds will be used for the production of mass - produced products and the continuous R & D and improvement of intelligent technologies.

OMOWAY was founded in 2024 by He Tao, the former co - founder of XPeng Motors, and Jiao Qingchun, the former vice - president of XPeng. The team members include Xiao Zhiguang, the former head of XPeng's autonomous driving, Zhang Lihua, the design director of XPeng P7, and Chen Bifeng, the former head of VIVO in Indonesia, who joined the team to be responsible for market expansion in Indonesia.

On June 20th, OMOWAY launched its first intelligent electric motorcycle prototype, the OMO X, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The prototype entered the stage in an "autonomous driving" mode at the press conference.

The OMOWAY team, Liu Yuan, a partner of ZhenFund, and partners at the Indonesian press conference (Photo source/Enterprise)

36Kr learned that the mass - produced version of the company's first intelligent electric motorcycle will be launched in the second half of the year and is planned to be launched for sale in Indonesia in 2026.

OMOWAY's intelligent electric motorcycles will target the global market, with the first stop set in Indonesia in Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia is an important global motorcycle market. Data from market research institutions shows that in 2023, the number of motorcycles in use reached 250 million, accounting for 24% of global sales, with an annual sales volume of 12.42 million units. Among them, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand ranked in the top three.

Due to the underdeveloped public transportation in Indonesia and the fact that residents' incomes can hardly afford cars, motorcycles have become a necessity for family travel. Indonesia is also the world's third - largest motorcycle market, with over 120 million motorcycles in use, an average of one motorcycle for every two people. By 2024, the motorcycle sales volume exceeded 6.3 million units. Gasoline - powered motorcycles are mainly from Japanese and Korean brands, with a market share of over 96%.

In the past two years, the electric two - wheeler industry chain in Indonesia has been continuously maturing, and the local supply chain has been gradually improved. Driven by the government's "gasoline - to - electric" policy, the sales volume of electric motorcycles in Indonesia increased by nearly 400% in 2024, but the overall penetration rate is still very low.

Cai Yujie, the head of finance and capital at OMOWAY, told 36Kr: "Indonesians have long commuting distances and high usage frequencies. Many people ride motorcycles not only during work hours but also on weekends to travel between different cities. It's not uncommon for the round - trip to take four or five hours. Therefore, they have high requirements for the load - carrying capacity, speed, endurance, and multi - functionality of motorcycles. Currently, the electric bicycle products on the market can only meet the travel needs of a small number of people, such as the extremely short - distance travel needs of students and mothers. The market for electric 'heavy motorcycles' currently lacks strong competitors with product strength, supply - chain capabilities, and localization capabilities."

OMOWAY founder He Tao introduced that the team has conducted in - depth market research in Indonesia for a year, visited multiple cities and rural areas on Java Island, and had multiple exchanges with local dealers and users. Currently, they have reached cooperation intentions with multiple channel agents in channel development. In addition, the company has maximally applied its experience and control capabilities in the automotive supply chain in the supply chain of motorcycles, not only achieving a quality level far higher than the average of two - wheelers but also effectively controlling costs. At the same time, the company's local production setup has been completed.

Therefore, OMOWAY's first intelligent electric motorcycle was developed according to the market demand in Indonesia, transplanting automotive intelligent driving technology to the motorcycle.

Specifically, the OMO X is equipped with the HALO full - domain intelligent development architecture independently developed by OMOWAY. Among them, the HALO Pilot system is based on visual perception and motorcycle self - balancing technology to achieve vehicle balance control at low speeds. The system also integrates multiple intelligent driving functions such as adaptive cruise control, one - key parking, and one - key summoning.

In terms of safety performance, the HALO Pilot independently developed by OMOWAY is equipped with a super - perception algorithm and an AI big - data model, which can monitor the driving environment in real - time. Its multi - directional collision warning and CAB collision - assisted braking functions can actively intervene in braking when the driver fails to respond to collision risks in time, reducing collision damage.

In terms of product design, the OMO X adopts the concept of variable - form design, supporting the switching of three driving modes: scooter, straddle, and touring, to meet the needs of different usage scenarios.

36Kr learned that OMOWAY has set up two headquarters, one in Guangzhou, China, responsible for product R & D, and the other in Jakarta, Indonesia, responsible for production and sales.

"Indonesia is the starting point, not the end," He Tao said. OMOWAY's ultimate goal is to "bring high - intelligent product experiences into every family." In the future, the team's self - developed automotive - grade technologies will be extended to more travel scenarios, and the "localization strategy" will become the core engine for global expansion.