XHEART (XHEART) has recently wrapped up its strategic financing round. With four preceding rounds of financing, the cumulative funds secured have neared RMB 5 billion. From the angel round to the strategic round, the entire process took less than two years. Furthermore, this chip company, which only officially launched in December 2023, has successfully brought Changxin Technology—a leader in China's memory sector—and the European automaker Renault Group onto its shareholder roster.

The angel round and angel plus round of financing included investors such as Shangqi Capital, Shunwei Capital, Suzhou Xincheng Guokong, and ZhenFund. In August 2025, CDH Investments, Shenzhen Capital Group, NIO Capital, and Joyson Electronic joined the fray. By January 2026, Chery Automobile, Guokai Science and Technology Innovation, and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Fund had also become shareholders. With this latest strategic financing round, the inclusion of Changxin and Renault clearly underscores the tightening of the industrial chain.

Changxin's involvement is particularly noteworthy. As a frontrunner in China's memory industry, this marks its first foray into the shareholder ranks of an intelligent driving computing power chip company. Renault, meanwhile, is the inaugural European automaker to invest in a Chinese intelligent driving chip company. The memory manufacturer's alliance with the computing power chip firm, coupled with the European automaker's connection to the Chinese supply chain, has brought both upstream and downstream players, as well as overseas customers, to XHEART's doorstep.

Business records reveal that XHEART is effectively controlled by Li Jun. The founding team holds roughly 46.3% of the shares through two entities: Suzhou Cape of Good Hope Xinxin and Suzhou Cape of Good Hope Xinhang. Chairman Li Jun, previously from Momenta, oversaw the chip business at that company and possesses a profound understanding of intelligent driving scenarios and algorithm iteration paths. CEO Li Zonglin, formerly of OPPO's ZEKU, has brought a cadre of core ZEKU engineers into the automotive-grade field. The core team members boast an average of over a decade of industry experience, spanning SoC architecture, NPU design, toolchains, and functional safety.

In terms of its technical strategy, XHEART has opted for a large model-native defined automotive-grade intelligent driving SoC. Its flagship product, the X7, targets L2++ urban navigation and L3/L4 autonomous driving levels. Rather than merely adapting general-purpose chips for automotive use, XHEART has customized the underlying NPU architecture to suit the computing power demands of intelligent driving large models. The chip design and software toolchain work in tandem to achieve model parameter efficiency roughly ten times that of general-purpose chips.

The certification and implementation process has been swift. In February 2026, the X7 received the AEC-Q100 reliability certification and China's inaugural SEMI TRUST MARK. In March, SGS issued the ISO 26262 ASIL-B and ASIL-D dual-level functional safety certificates, making it the first domestic urban navigation intelligent driving chip to secure both certifications simultaneously. By July, automotive electronics tool provider Vector had completed the AUTOSAR Classic adaptation for the X7. In August, XHEART, in collaboration with Momenta and QNX, unveiled a global safety standard autonomous driving platform, integrating the chip, algorithm, and operating system layers for mass production.

The X7 has now entered mass production. Its debut model is the SAIC Volkswagen ID.ERA9X, and it will subsequently be installed in multiple new energy and fuel-powered vehicles from SAIC MG, Roewe, General Motors Cadillac, and Chery.

What sets XHEART apart from similar manufacturers can be summed up in four words: full-condition air cooling. Most high-end intelligent driving solutions necessitate liquid cooling or air cooling modifications. Fuel-powered vehicles seeking to adopt high-end intelligent driving often require cooling system modifications. XHEART's air cooling design enables fuel-powered vehicles to operate with their original cooling systems, thus tapping into a niche market largely overlooked by competitors.

Li Zonglin previously remarked that the realization of next-generation autonomous driving hinges on the computing power support of AI-native chips. Only through deep integration of the chip, operating system, and algorithm layers can high performance and high safety be concurrently achieved. This statement not only elucidates the company's approach but also underscores the rationale behind its rapid two-year development trajectory.

As of the press deadline, the X7's mass production ramp-up and global ecosystem expansion are still in progress. The industry is keenly observing how far Changxin and Renault's involvement will propel the company's advancement.