The only new energy vehicle enterprise in China that can "match" Jia Yueting FF has news again.
Author | Huo Yun
Source | Investor (ID: touzijias)
The only new energy vehicle enterprise in China that can "match" Jia Yueting FF has news again.
But it's bad news. According to the latest news of Tianyancha APP, Singularity Auto, the "head" of the new power of car building with an estimated value of 20 billion yuan, was listed as "dishonest executor" because it owed employees more than 79000 yuan in salary. Last year, Singularity Auto reported that it "burned 17 billion yuan and went bankrupt", causing shock in the new energy industry and venture capital circle.
When the outside world thought Singularity Auto was "really going down" and buried a batch of VC/PE and industrial capital, the company was still "alive". In addition, according to Tianyancha APP, the operating status of Singularity Auto Brand Carrier Smart Car Youxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is still "existing". It shows that Singularity has not disappeared, and the biggest thunder of new energy in the eyes of the media is still dying.
After all, they let global capital "suffocate for dreams."
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"The biggest fraud in domestic new energy car building, want to continue?"
If Tianyan hadn't checked the latest developments of APP, who would have thought that the car at Singularity, which has been rumored to be bankrupt for many times, didn't fall down. Their growth path, to some extent, is more "mysterious" than Jia Yueting's FF who "returns home next week", which once drove global capital into madness.
In 2014, it is of great significance to China's new car making forces. This year, Jia Yueting, the pioneer of "traffic enabling car building" and the founder of LeTV, announced a "SEE plan" to the outside world that "suffocates dreams". He said, "LeEco has officially entered the automotive field, and plans to build a super car that integrates intelligence, electric and social, and perfectly combines the Internet and intelligence."
Earlier that year, Jia Yueting went to the United States. Accompanied by Sampson, a former Tesla executive who fooled Musk, he found the "poem and distance" about car building. FF (Faraday Future) was registered, which changed the rest of LeEco's life.
Before the announcement of the "SEE Plan", there was a senior executive of a major Internet factory who first smelled the opportunity that new energy car manufacturing would become the world's largest outlet than Jia Yueting. He was Shen Haiyin, a Japanese serial entrepreneur, former vice president of 360 and CEO of Singularity Auto.
Shen Haiyin was a bright color in the venture capital circle. He became famous as a young man, went abroad to wander in Japan, and founded three Internet companies, One of them was called "Yahoo Japan", which was later acquired by Yahoo Japan. The Japanese media regarded Shen Haiyin as a "Chinese entrepreneurial genius".
In 2005, Shen Haiyin completed the amazing act of Internet in Japan, jointly founded Kingsoft with Kingsoft, and two years later created the free version of Japanese anti-virus software. Shen Haiyin's actions soon aroused the "vigilance" of domestic Internet giants.
Dachang brought the "Chinese entrepreneurial genius" back to China by handing olive branches. He has successively served in Kingsoft and 360. It was during the period of 360 Vice President that Shen Haiyin and Jia Yueting saw the prospect of new energy car building almost at the same time. In 2014, Shen Haiyin established Smart Car Youxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which pioneered a new force of Internet car making in China.
LeTV is thundering, and Jia Yueting has pioneered the new force of Internet car building in the United States. Two people, one inside and one outside, "opened the imagination space of global capital with one's own efforts." At home, Shen Haiyin, who has no debt, has received more attention. He has come up with a very pleasant name for the car industry, Singularity Auto. He said, "Singularity, in physics, is the beginning of the Big Bang. All known physical laws do not apply here, and time and space end here." Capital, however, takes off here.
In 2015, new domestic forces' car making spread to the Internet, and Niuren left big factories to "follow" Shen Haiyin. As the "originator" of new domestic forces, Singularity Auto has obtained financing from global well-known VC/PE and industrial capital such as Guangxin Capital, Benjian Capital and Intel Capital under the condition of being just a "concept". Especially Intel, which is engaged in chips, has an extremely sensitive sense of smell.
The next year, $600 million of strategic investment was recorded. A month later, 360 Company, Taoyun Capital, No.1 Capital, Shenzhen Geng Capital, etc. sent another financing. "Own Vice President Entrepreneurship" 360 gave full support. On the one hand, Shen Haiyin has an unusual position in the company, reporting directly to the founder Zhou Hongyi; On the other hand, the "Red Clothes Cult Master" explored the road of making cars by taking advantage of the singularity car.
Taoyun Capital has also contributed a lot. They are the majority shareholders of the online car hailing platform. Yes, they are one of the participants who triggered the LeEco crisis and indirectly forced Jia Yueting to go to the United States. Taoyun Capital never dreamed that Singularity cars would explode again one day in the future.
With the influx of global capital, 360's investment and endorsement, Singularity Auto has unlimited scenery.
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The scenery is limitless, which is really not "bragging".
Shen Haiyin drew an invisible cake that Jia Yueting did not dare to draw.
As we all know, the territory of traditional fuel vehicles has long been in the hands of the United States, Japan and Europe. Where is the Pie Cow of Singularity Car? Linking the United States and Japan, we want to split the new energy pattern in the two regions of traditional fuel vehicles. Of course, if we want to split new energy in the United States and Japan from today's perspective, it is "nonsense". Otherwise, Tesla has no reason to rely on the Shanghai factory to rescue us.
But at that stage, the cake of Singularity Auto was extremely attractive. "If the idea is successful, the next step may be out of the earth." Global Capital was obviously willing to believe in Singularity Auto. First, Shen Haiyin has successfully started businesses in Japan for many times. The "Japan Yahoo" he created is a project praised by Sun Zhengyi, the richest man in Japan and a "global investment network celebrity", which has laid a foundation for him to break into the Japanese market.
Second, the new energy industry in the United States is "poor and white", and the capital is a "blue ocean" that can earn huge returns. Third, Shen Haiyin, as a capable cadre of Zhou Hongyi, has outstanding management and innovation capabilities. He has been in charge of 360 Mobile Guard, 360 Cloud Disk, 360 Child Guard, 360 Secure Routing and other businesses. He is a "generalist" and has "incomparable advantages for most entrepreneurs".
Who doesn't want to eat a piece of beautiful pancake with "all rounders" among talents? In this way, Singularity Auto got at least 7 rounds of financing from 2017 to 2020 with its pie. The most impressive thing was that during the dinner, Singularity Auto was questioned by the media, exposing the financial crisis, arrears of wages, arrears of suppliers and "pretending to build cars like Jia Yueting".
A series of problems broke out in 2018 and 2019. What is "mysterious" is that it did not affect the financing pace of Singularity Auto in any way. The capital's trust in the company echoes with the "one car not built" FF across the bank. In 2018, a round of crisis broke out at Singularity Auto, and many employees inexplicably received an HR email that said, "Wages can only be paid after a series of approvals. I hope employees understand."
The reasons for not paying are quite wonderful. "The salary arrears, which is regarded as the company's borrowing from employees, will be repaid at an annual interest rate of about 10%." That is to say, "the company has no money, and is financing with employees' wages in disguised form." However, in 2018, Singularity Auto clearly got two rounds of financing, including a 3 billion yuan C-round financing invested by Boyong Fund. How did it borrow money from employees again?
The key point is that they announced the first model iS6 in mass production in 2017, but there is no mass production, where is the money? In the face of all kinds of doubts, Singularity Auto was particularly calm. Shen Haiyin personally responded that "Singularity Auto has raised more than 7 billion yuan in total, and the salary arrears are false news."
At the same time, when the internal shareholders of Singularity Automobile had differences while making cars, some VC/PE suddenly realized that they were in the "vortex". Boyong Fund, which previously participated in the C round of financing, wanted to exit after just one year of investment. In 2019, Boyong Fund plans to transfer 6.3753% of the company's equity, and wants to escape from Singularity Auto as soon as possible, thinking about beauty. "As soon as the capital enters the deep world, it turns out that car building is an outsider."
Shen Haiyin skillfully formed "bundling" with a large number of VC/PE and industrial capital, "no one can escape without further financing."
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Financing, then financing, until 2020, no one will accept the offer, and investors will fall with it.
For example, Boyong Fund, which plans to be eliminated in 2019, has held 5.8184% of the company's equity so far. After Singularity Auto was rumored to be bankrupt in 2023, they successfully set up more than 30 VC/PE, industrial capital, and individual shareholders. Looking at the whole new energy industry, it is also extremely rare in the series of auto companies that have fallen. For example, Gaohe Auto is a real car, capital is not good enough, and the capital chain can not support the fall.
Where's the Singularity car? "Jia Yueting Attachment" is basically responsible for financing, drawing cakes and telling stories, which can be called "the largest fraud in domestic new energy vehicle manufacturing". The role played by 360 Company in the whole manufacturing process is the most thought-provoking.
There are two interesting time points. First, according to the encyclopedia, Shen Haiyin served as the vice president of 360 from 2013 to 2015; Second, Smart Car Youxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was established in 2014. When Shen Haiyin starts a business during his term of office, 360 should have a clear plan. let me put it another way, Singularity Auto is not only a company invested by 360, or a car building project incubated by 360.
This means that, Zhou Hongyi discovered the global new air outlet early and laid out the new energy car building. As for how the Singularity car fell from the biggest cake of new energy to the biggest thunder? Naturally, it is not Zhou Hongyi's pot. At that time, his main energy was to study Zanthoxylum bungeanum live broadcast. It must be related. "Zhou Hongyi didn't understand how to build new energy cars, and over trusted Shen Haiyin, which led to a big failure in 360's investment history."
According to Tianyancha APP information, Tianjin Qirui Tiancheng Equity Investment Center (limited partnership), the capital of 360, has held 1.1316% equity of Smart Car Youxing Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. so far. Previously, it was reported that "360 gave up Singularity cars and quit completely" was not accurate. Shen Haiyin is also one of the few people who "employees get the boss", which is quite "mysterious".
This explains why Zhou Hongyi became one of the "auto circle online celebrities" in 2024? It took him 10 years to get his employees to play tricks and pay a heavy price before he gradually understood the logic of "traffic enabling car building" developed by Jia Yueting in 2014. It was not easy.
Recently, the latest development of Tianyan APP showed that Singularity Auto had another debt and owed more than 79000 yuan of wages to its employees. The company's business status is "survival", involving 58 legal proceedings, and the case amount exceeds 200 million yuan?
He trapped employees, suppliers, VC/PE, industrial capital, founding team and former boss, and became a mystery. In fact, the point of "fantasy" is far more than the above. Shen Haiyin, who is good at drawing cakes, has a special preference for investment. He has participated in more than 20 companies.
In addition to Huang Qidian's cars and money, other companies he personally participated in had a very happy life.
