Well it was bound to happen wasn’t it? Just as taxi app Uber must now contend with Didi Kuaidi, or the way Xiaomi has shaken up the smartphone space, a lean new Chinese electric car start-up – NextEV – is trying to muscle in on Tesla’s turf.
Not only that, it just raised a round led by Silicon Valley venture capital giant Sequoia Capital, according to Fortune. Other investors include Uber-backers Hillhouse Capital. Ok, but it’s in China, right? It’s not like the start-up is moving into Tesla’s backyard or anything? Well, actually, it just opened a new 85,000-square-foot R&D center in north San Jose, California.
Its not the first rival Tesla has had to deal with. The US incumbent, which was backed early on by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DBL Investors, and Technology Partners – among others, has already inspired a slew of copycats. That said, it looks like the electric car space has just got a little bit more crowded.
Photo: Thomas Hawk