"Ideal System", starting mass production of unicorns
"Bring back those who have left."
In January this year, when Li Xiang threw out this line at the all - staff meeting, the outside world thought he was going to launch a talent defense war. But a few months later, his investment company invested in "Xieyue Intelligence", an embodied intelligence company founded by Chen Wei, the former chief AI scientist, and Zhang Xiao, the former product line president.
Bring them back or invest in them? These seemingly contradictory actions expose the deeper logic of Li Auto. The talents from the Li Auto ecosystem are becoming more valuable assets than the cars themselves.
If we look further, it's not hard to find that Xieyue Intelligence is just the latest act in a wave of "Li Auto - affiliated" startups. Zhijian Power, founded by Wang Kai, the former CTO of Li Auto, and members of the intelligent driving team, completed 5 rounds of financing in just 8 months after its establishment and became the youngest unicorn in the embodied intelligence track. Coincidentally, Kunlunxing, founded by Lang Xianpeng, the former head of intelligent driving, received three rounds of financing just 10 days after its registration and also reached the unicorn threshold... A group of former executives from Li Auto are becoming new favorites in the capital market at an amazing speed.
This phenomenon has its internal logic. The R & D system that Li Auto has accumulated in the fields of AI and intelligent driving in the past few years is "spilling over" to the entire embodied intelligence industry through the flow of talents. And Li Auto itself also chooses to maintain an industrial connection with these former employees through capital as a link.
Meanwhile, Seres established a venture capital company, and car companies such as SAIC, XPeng, and NIO have successively entered the venture capital circle. A venture capital boom led by car companies is accelerating.
Perhaps, for leading car companies, building cars is just the starting point, and laying out the technological ecosystem of the next era is the real end - game.
"Li Auto - affiliated" Unicorns in Mass Production
In the spring of 2026, an unprecedented collective explosion of "Li Auto - affiliated" enterprises is taking place in the embodied intelligence track.
Xieyue Intelligence, an embodied intelligence company founded in February 2026, completed its first - round financing jointly invested by Yuanjing Capital and Li Auto just two months after its registration. The founder lineup of this company is extremely luxurious. Chen Wei, the chairman and CTO, is the former chief AI scientist and the person in charge of the base model of Li Auto. Zhang Xiao, the CEO, is the former head of the second product line of Li Auto and the core definer of the product strategy of the best - selling model Li L9, featuring "refrigerators, color TVs, and big sofas". According to Qichacha data, after the financing, Chen Wei holds 36.6643% of the shares, Zhang Xiao holds 24.0214%, and among the shareholders is also "Chongqing Chezhiyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd.", which is associated with Li Auto.
Xieyue Intelligence is not the first appearance of the Li Auto ecosystem in the embodied intelligence track.
Before this, Zhijian Power, founded by Jia Peng, the former executive of Li Auto's autonomous driving, Wang Kai, the former CTO of Li Auto, and Wang Jiajia, the former person in charge of mass - production of Li Auto's intelligent driving, has refreshed the industry's perception with its amazing financing speed. This company, founded in July 2025, completed 5 rounds of financing in less than half a year, with a cumulative financing amount of 2 billion yuan and a post - investment valuation of over 1 billion US dollars, quickly growing into the youngest unicorn enterprise in the embodied intelligence track.
Looking at the list of investors behind Zhijian Power, it can be called an "all - star lineup". Financial investors include well - known institutions such as Yuanjing Capital, BlueRun Ventures, Sequoia China, Legend Capital, Zhongke Chuangxing, and Gao Rong Venture Capital. Strategic investors include Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba Group.
Following closely is another more iconic figure. Lang Xianpeng, the former president of intelligent driving and former senior vice - president of Li Auto, recently founded Kunlunxing, an embodied intelligence large - model company. It is worth mentioning that the company received three rounds of financing just 10 days after its registration and quickly entered the unicorn ranks.
10 days, three rounds, and a unicorn. This speed is extremely rare in the history of Chinese venture capital. Lang Xianpeng was in charge of the strategic planning and implementation of the entire intelligent driving system at Li Auto. His judgment on the business path of the embodied large - model is naturally the kind of certainty that capital is most willing to bet on.
In addition to the above three companies, the wave of Li Auto - affiliated startups is still expanding. And why can this group of people move so fast? Counting these companies, a common feature emerges: In each Li Auto - affiliated team, the technical leaders have been deeply involved in the research and development of basic models or algorithms, while the product or execution leaders have complete mass - production and delivery experience. This combination is a scarce configuration in the embodied intelligence startup circle. Many robot startups either have strong technology but don't understand productization or have product experience but lack underlying model capabilities. Teams with both are extremely rare. Therefore, from a human perspective, it's not surprising that top - tier market - oriented VCs and top Internet companies are collectively betting on them.
The deeper reason lies in the industry timing. Currently, the embodied intelligence track has entered an explosive period. Especially in 2026, it is regarded by the industry as the first year of large - scale delivery of humanoid robots. Against this background, capital is pouring in crazily. In 2025, there were more than 300 financing events in the embodied intelligence track, with a financing amount of over 40 billion yuan. According to OFweek statistics, in Q1 of 2026, there were at least 14 unicorns with a valuation of over 10 billion in the embodied intelligence field. In such a window period of capital - industry resonance, teams with real mass - production experience have become the most sought - after scarce assets in the entire track.
And Li Auto has, in the past few years, cultivated such talents on a large scale. As Li Xiang, the CEO of Li Auto, said during the earnings conference call for Li Auto's 2025 financial report on the evening of March 12, in response to the departure of several senior executives recently, there have indeed been some new changes since the beginning of the year. Some very excellent R & D and other management personnel in the first and second positions have followed Li Auto through the stage of starting from scratch, gained rich experience in startup companies, and recently went out to start their own businesses and have also received recognition from the investment market. He said, "I hope that every backbone of Li Auto who can go out to start their own business can perform better and better and become the main force in the market."
When the direct investment of the former employer and the industrial incubation of top - tier VCs work together, the large - scale emergence of Li Auto - affiliated unicorns is not just a coincidence.
Li Auto's Investment Map
Li Auto's cross - border investment has a long history.
First, we need to understand Li Auto's investment entity. As mentioned above, the entity through which Li Auto participates in the investment of Xieyue Intelligence is its subsidiary, Chongqing Chezhiyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd. This company was founded in 2022, but its investment frequency is not very high. According to Qichacha data, the company has only had 6 investment events so far.
In addition to Xieyue Intelligence, it also participated in the Pre - A round financing of Qianjue Robot in 2025. But what attracted the most attention was its investment of 400 million yuan in Sunwoda in 2022. In addition to investing in enterprises, Chongqing Chezhiyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd. also invested in the affiliated funds of two institutions, MiraclePlus and Huaye Tiancheng.
However, Li Auto's layout in the primary market did not start with the establishment of Chongqing Chezhiyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd. in 2022. Many years ago, Li Auto, in the name of its parent company, Beijing Chehejia Information Technology Co., Ltd., started a long - term external investment layout.
The most well - known is the unmanned delivery enterprise, Neolix. Data shows that Li Auto participated in the angel - round financing of Neolix in 2018 and led the A - round financing of the enterprise in 2020. When Yu Enyuan of Neolix was interviewed after the A - round financing and asked about Li Auto's investment, he said, "We and Li Xiang believe that in the future, unmanned driving will be the most important efficiency tool for transforming the local living circle. The local living circle includes human travel, commodity purchase services, etc. in the entire city. Now people receive express deliveries and order takeaways through e - commerce platforms and take taxis home through ride - hailing platforms. If we want to improve the efficiency by more than 10 times, we need unmanned driving. Li Auto is moving forward in the direction of carrying passengers, and we are moving forward in the direction of carrying goods. Our concepts are the same."
In addition to Neolix, the name of Beijing Chehejia Information Technology Co., Ltd. also appears in the list of investors of enterprises such as Cheyijia, Yiheng Intelligence, and Liushen Optoelectronics.
In addition to Li Auto, Li Xiang himself quietly entered the core circle of Chinese venture capital as an individual investor as early as 2014.
Back in 2014, Cao Yi left Sequoia China to found Source Code Capital. At the beginning of the establishment of Source Code Capital, Li Xiang became one of its first - batch LPs, which can be regarded as a "founding - level" LP of Source Code Capital. According to Cao Yi's recollection, "We raised our first - phase fund in just one month. These LPs just met us or even just had a phone call." Li Xiang was one of them. It is worth mentioning that among the LP list behind the first - phase fund of Source Code Capital, there are also well - known entrepreneurs such as Wang Xing, the founder of Meituan, and Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance.
Huang Mingming, the founder of Mingshi Capital, also has a deep relationship with Li Xiang. Huang Mingming established a deep friendship with Li Xiang when he was running AutoHome. Many years ago, Huang Mingming, together with Xue Manzi and Cai Wensheng, invested in AutoHome founded by Li Xiang and was also one of the first - round investors in Li Auto. When Huang Mingming founded Mingshi Capital, Li Xiang also entrusted part of his funds to Huang Mingming and became an LP of Mingshi Capital.
This virtuous cycle of "entrepreneurs supporting VCs with capital, and VCs accompanying enterprises' growth" received a landmark verification in May 2016. At that time, Chehejia (the predecessor of Li Auto) completed a 780 - million - yuan A - round financing, and institutions such as Source Code Capital and Mingshi Capital followed the investment. The VC institutions supported by Li Xiang as an LP in turn became the investors in his startup company. This two - way relationship laid the underlying logic for Li Auto's subsequent industrial investment.
Looking at Li Auto itself, the evolution of its investment map is extremely clear. From Li Xiang personally empowering first - tier VCs such as Source Code Capital and Mingshi Capital as an LP, to Li Auto directly investing in industrial chain enterprises such as Liushen Optoelectronics and Neolix in the name of its parent company, then to making a heavy investment in Sunwoda's batteries, and even establishing Chongqing Chezhiyuan Venture Capital Co., Ltd. to institutionalize industrial investment, and finally extending to the cutting - edge track of embodied intelligence.
This path not only reflects the dual - wheel drive of "industrial capital + financial investment" but also reflects Li Auto's ambition to transform from a "car - building enterprise" to a "technology ecosystem builder".
Car Companies: Everyone is Crossing the Border into Investment
Li Auto's investment map is not an isolated case. When we shift our focus from Li Auto to the entire automotive industry, we can find a clear trend emerging - car companies entering the investment field has changed from an "elective course" for individual players to a "compulsory course" for the entire industry.
Whether they are new car - making forces or traditional giants, whether they are domestic brands or multinational car companies, they are all extending their reach to broader fields such as transportation, energy, technology, and even robotics through capital means.
The latest event occurred in early April this year. A business registration change of Seres attracted market attention. According to Qichacha information, Chuangxin (Chongqing) Investment Co., Ltd. was officially registered with a registered capital of 500 million yuan. Its business scope has only one item: venture capital (limited to investing in unlisted enterprises). Equity penetration shows that this company is wholly - owned by Seres Group Co., Ltd.
Seres is not an isolated case. SAIC Group has also been very active in the field of industrial investment.
As a typical practice of China's leading manufacturing enterprise in the transformation towards "new - quality productivity", SAIC's capital layout has long gone beyond the boundaries of traditional financial investment. "According to the data on SAIC Group's official website, since the launch of strategic direct investment in 2021, SAIC has invested more than 18 billion yuan in total and successfully promoted 24 invested enterprises to go public. What is particularly noteworthy is its extremely focused investment structure: in the new investments in 2025, nearly 70% of the funds were precisely directed to fields such as AI, humanoid robots, and high - end reusable automotive manufacturing, which are related to 'new - quality productivity'. This is not a regular VC game for short - term returns but an underlying asset reconstruction by SAIC to win the 'battle for supply - chain sovereignty'.
NIO takes the fund route. NIO Capital was founded in 2016 and is a professional investment institution deeply involved in the industry. It focuses on the industrial transformation brought about by technological and model innovations in low - carbonization and digitalization, and mainly invests in the fields of new energy, automobiles, and hard technology. Its investment projects include CATL, Rongbai Technology, Tuhu Car Care, Dida Chuxing, Black Sesame Intelligence, Pony.ai, Yingche Technology, Tudatong, etc. As it said, "NIO Capital focuses on investments in fields such as large - scale transportation, energy, and technology, and mainly conducts investment layouts in fields such as transportation transformation, intelligent industry, and intelligent life. NIO Capital has an excellent composite team and ecosystem resources in the industry and is committed to providing full - life - cycle support for founders and innovative technology companies."
XPeng is also not far behind. Its founder, He Xiaopeng, is an LP behind well - known GPs such as GGV Capital, Matrix Partners China, and Kunzhong Capital. Under the leadership of He Xiaopeng, XPeng has also established its own market - oriented VC and invested in the first - phase US - dollar fund of Xinghang Capital as a cornerstone investor in 2022. According to its introduction, "Xinghang Capital is a professional private equity investment institution initiated and established by XPeng as a cornerstone investor, focusing on startups in fields such as the intelligent electric vehicle industry chain, climate technology, and cutting - edge technology."
Of course, not all car companies have the same investment logic, but there is a profound industrial logic driving them. The report "Galloping towards the Mountains and Seas - Outlook on the Industry Impact of the 14th Five - Year Plan" recently released by KPMG China points out that taking intelligent vehicles as the starting point, the active cross - border and ecological integration into cutting - edge fields such as robotics and low - altitude economy will become the core new driving force for industrial growth. The report mentions that multiple industrial chains represented by intelligent vehicles, robots, and low - altitude economy have a large number of "intersections" in terms of technology, component supply, and scenario application, giving rise to a new industrial development direction called "aggregated intelligence".
The research results disclosed by the China Electric Vehicle 100 - Person Forum show that all links in the upstream, mid - stream, and downstream of the automotive industry chain can be deeply connected with the industrial chains of intelligent robots and low - altitude aircraft, and more than 60% of the industrial chains can be used by the intelligent robot and low - altitude aircraft industries.
As Morgan Stanley analyzed in its latest report, the re - rating of Chinese auto stocks may require the gradual development of non - automotive businesses, such as physical artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, and the capital market is willing to provide funds for such development. This means that car companies' investment layouts are no longer limited to the vertical integration of the supply chain but have turned to the horizontal positioning of the future technological ecosystem. From Li Auto's investment in embodied intelligence, to Seres' venture capital subsidiary, to SAIC's industrial - investment linkage, and then to XPeng and NIO's successive entry into the field.
What we can see is that this capital journey that started from the wheels is heading towards a vaster intelligent universe.