Momenta raises $1b in latest financing round

China's Momenta said on Thursday it has just raised over $500 million from investors including SAIC Motor, bringing the autonomous driving startup's total Series C financing to over $1 billion.

Other leading investors include GM, Toyota, Bosch as well as investment institutions like Tamasek and Yunfeng Capital, said the company.

Momenta CEO Cao Xudong said, "The addition of these partners and capital will help us accelerate the implementation of autonomous driving on a larger scale."

Since its establishment in 2016, the company has raised over $1.2 billion, the most among Chinese startups in the sector.

Momenta has adopted a scalable path toward full autonomous driving by combining a data-driven approach to quickly iterate algorithms.

Unlike many startups, it has a "two-pronged" strategy, focusing on both mass-production-ready solutions and full autonomous technology as well.

It has a goal to save one million lives, save 100 percent driving time, and double the efficiency of logistics and mobility in the next ten years.