A former Huawei employee founded a company focused on steer-by-wire chassis, participated in drafting national standards, and secured investments from Pine Capital and SND Venture Capital | 36Kr Exclusive
Author | Ou Xue
Editor | Yuan Silai
Yingke has learned that Millisecond Intelligent Control, a core component supplier for wire - controlled chassis, has recently completed an angel + round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan. The investors in this round are Songhe Capital and Suzhou High - tech Rongcheng. This is also the second round of financing completed by the company in just one year since its establishment, following the exclusive angel - round investment from Houxue Capital.
Millisecond Intelligent Control was established in Shanghai in April 2025, focusing on the R & D and production of steer - by - wire (SBW) systems and core electronic control components.
The core competitiveness of Millisecond Intelligent Control stems from its extremely scarce team genes. Li Jie, the founder and CEO, is the co - lead for the revision of the new national standard for steer - by - wire. During his tenure at Jidu Auto, as the core representative of the enterprise, he was deeply involved in the entire process of standard formulation. His resume comprehensively covers the key development stages of the industry, such as traditional transformation represented by SAIC, the rise of new forces represented by NIO, technology empowerment represented by Huawei, and frontier exploration represented by Jidu. The steer - by - wire system developed by its core team during the Jidu period has completed more than 50,000 kilometers of autonomous driving tests, making it the only domestic team with such test mileage.
Yingke has learned that steer - by - wire (Steering - By - Wire, SBW) completely eliminates the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steering mechanism and relies entirely on electrical signals for control. As the "nerve center" of high - level autonomous driving above L3, its response speed, control accuracy, and layout flexibility far exceed those of traditional electric power steering systems (EPS).
With the official implementation of the L3 - level autonomous driving certification by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2025, and the release of the new version of the "Basic Requirements for Automotive Steering Systems" national standard in December 2025 and its formal implementation in July 2026 (no longer mandating mechanical connection), the regulatory and market windows for steer - by - wire have been fully opened.
Multiple market research institutions and industry experts told Yingke that 2026 will be the year of explosive growth for steer - by - wire. According to industry analysis and forecasts, the penetration rate of steer - by - wire in new cars is expected to reach 5% in 2026, and this figure will climb to over 30% by 2030. Currently, flagship models such as NIO ET9, Li L9, and XPENG GX have clearly announced the installation of steer - by - wire systems, and the industry is on the verge of large - scale mass production.
Unlike most startups that directly challenge the entire assembly, Millisecond Intelligent Control has adopted a more practical commercialization path. Adhering to the progressive strategy of "from point to surface", the company is currently focusing on promoting the mass - production process of the "Intelligent Control Module (PPK)" - the motor electronic control unit with the highest technical barriers in the steer - by - wire and R - EPS (Rack - type Electric Power Steering) systems.
In the future, the company will rely on its mature technological advantages to accelerate the layout and release of the full - stack product potential from key components to steering system assemblies, steadily build the ability for large - scale mass production and delivery, and continuously deepen supply - chain collaboration with core industrial partners.
Commercially, the company has entered the supply - chain system of leading new - energy vehicle manufacturers in North America and has completed the development and delivery of its first project with high quality. Since this year, the company has established cooperation channels with mainstream automakers, and its core business is progressing smoothly. It is making every effort to ensure the execution of various delivery tasks.
The following is an excerpt from the dialogue between Yingke and Li Jie:
Yingke: Where exactly are the technical difficulties of steer - by - wire? In which aspects do most domestic manufacturers lag behind international giants?
Li Jie: The most difficult part of steer - by - wire is not a single component, but the system - level design of "redundancy" and "functional safety". It requires dual motors, dual power supplies, dual communication, and dual software architectures, and there must be a backup for any link that fails. Many domestic manufacturers can produce low - load C - EPS and DP - EPS, but they get stuck when it comes to high - load, high - safety - level products like R - EPS and steer - by - wire.
Currently, the gap is mainly reflected in two aspects: one is the understanding and engineering implementation ability of functional safety (ASIL - D); the other is the lack of sufficient autonomous driving test data to iterate algorithms.
Yingke: Cost is one of the obstacles to the large - scale popularization of steer - by - wire. Currently, the system cost is about 30% higher than that of traditional steering. How can this gap be narrowed?
Li Jie: Currently, the cost of a steer - by - wire system still maintains a premium of about 30% compared to traditional EPS. However, the cost - reduction path is very clear: first, through scale. When the penetration rate increases from 5% to 30%, the procurement cost of core components such as upstream chips and motors will drop significantly; second, through domestic substitution. Currently, redundant main - control chips, angle sensors, etc. still rely on imports, and after localization, the cost is expected to be significantly optimized; third, through technological iteration. Our next - generation PPK module will integrate more functions and reduce peripheral devices.
We believe that as the above cost - reduction paths are gradually realized, the cost premium of steer - by - wire will narrow to a range where large - scale popularization is possible in the industry around 2028, and large - scale popularization will truly arrive at that time.
Yingke: It is becoming a trend for automakers to develop steering systems in - house. How do you view the competition from customers' in - house development?
Li Jie: The debate between in - house development and non - in - house development has always existed in the automotive industry. My judgment is that only giants with an annual sales volume of over 3 million vehicles can make the economics of in - house development work. Because the steering system is a typical industry with economies of scale, with huge R & D investment but thin profit margins per unit. For the vast majority of automakers, outsourcing is still the optimal solution. Moreover, even for automakers that develop in - house, they still need the support of external suppliers for core components with high thresholds such as the electronic control unit (PPK). This is our opportunity - we don't make complete vehicles, but only the most difficult modules, serving all players.
Views from investors:
Wang Yang, Executive Partner of Songhe Chuangzhi Fund and Managing Partner of Songhe Capital: We continue to be optimistic about the key position of steer - by - wire in the stage of intelligent vehicles and autonomous driving. With the implementation of relevant regulations and the upgrade of the vehicle's electronic and electrical architecture, as the core link for the "decoupling" of the chassis domain, Millisecond Intelligent Control has built full - stack self - research capabilities around the steer - by - wire system, forming a systematic ability in product definition, vehicle - level collaborative development, and test verification. Especially in the aspects of redundant architecture design and mass - production implementation, it has practical experience, reflecting a deep understanding of the technical path and industrial rhythm. Our decision to support the company during its product verification and introduction stage is based on a comprehensive judgment of the feasibility of the technical route, the domestic supporting ability, and the matching degree with vehicle manufacturers' needs. We look forward to the company gradually achieving large - scale application in the process of deepening cooperation with vehicle manufacturers and autonomous driving enterprises and becoming an important participant in the process of domesticating steer - by - wire technology.
Suzhou High - tech Rongcheng said: Suzhou High - tech Rongcheng has long - term investments in the hard - technology industrial chain such as intelligent manufacturing. Steer - by - wire is the core technological foundation of autonomous driving and one of the indispensable basic capabilities for L3 and above autonomous driving. The founding team of Millisecond Intelligent Control comes from well - known automotive OEMs and leading Tier1 chassis component enterprises. They have been deeply involved in the field of steer - by - wire, covering system development, hardware, and software development, and have full - stack self - research experience in redundant R - EPS and SBW. They are also a rare domestic team with long - term R & D experience in steer - by - wire, high product maturity, and the ability to conduct tests on mass - produced vehicles and pass real - vehicle verification of tens of thousands of kilometers. We firmly believe in the technical strength and mass - production experience of the Millisecond Intelligent Control team in the field of steer - by - wire. This cooperation will help Millisecond Intelligent Control accelerate technological iteration and capacity expansion, and contribute to the development of the intelligent vehicle industry.
Houxue Capital said: As a core investor in Millisecond Intelligent Control, we are very optimistic about the long - term development value of the enterprise. Steer - by - wire (SBW) is the core key to the implementation of high - level intelligent driving and an important bottleneck restricting the large - scale popularization of L4 - level autonomous driving. The industrial demand and strategic value are prominent. The company focuses on the R & D and manufacturing of SBW, REPS, and the core electronic control Power Pack. The core team brings together senior industry talents from Bosch, Huayu, SAIC, Huawei, NIO, Jiyue, etc., and is also deeply involved in the formulation of industry national standards, with profound technical background. Since its establishment one year ago, the founding team led by Li Jie has successfully completed the transformation from senior technical product leaders to excellent entrepreneurs with both business thinking and commercial vision, and their comprehensive capabilities have iterated rapidly. The enterprise has recently completed two rounds of financing in succession, gaining wide recognition from the market. In the future, it will also use the power of capital to accelerate product verification and market expansion. Relying on its solid technical strength and mature team advantages, it is expected to break through steadily in the wave of domesticating intelligent chassis and become a potential backbone force in the domestic steer - by - wire track.