Chinese smart car supplier PATEO raises 1 billion yuan in new funding round

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese smart vehicle supplier Shanghai PATEO Electronic Equipment Manufacturing Co said on Friday it had raised 1 billon yuan ($149.28 million) in a latest funding round led by state-owned investment firms.

Shanghai Guosheng Capital, Jinggangshan Investment and the investment arm of the country's biggest insurer Ping An Insurance Group were the investors of this round of fundraising, PATEO said in a statement.

With the new funding, the company has raised a total of 2.5 billion yuan to improve its technology development and innovation, PATEO said. Xiaomi Corp, FAW Group and Dongfeng Motor Group were among its investors.

The 13-year-old company said it had been supplying its software developed for smart vehicle cockpit and autonomous driving to nearly 30 auto brands.

As the global auto industry pursues an electric and smart future, automakers and tech companies are developing technologies to make vehicles more connected and autonomous.

Apple also said earlier it was talking to several automakers to bring the new generation of the Carplay software to make their cars smarter.

($1 = 6.6988 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh; Editing by Rashmi Aich)