March 18, 2022: -China’s XPeng said Thursday it led an investment into a new $200 million fund focused on backing electric vehicles and “frontier technology” start-ups. The fund, called Rockets Capital, also counts several high-profile venture capital players among the investors, including IDG Capital, eGarden, Sequoia China, 5Y Capital, and GGV Capital. Rockets Capital is focusing on “venture and growth-stage investments in Smart EV industry value chain, clean energy, and frontier technology areas.”

XPeng is not expanding on what “frontier technology” would include, but China’s government has identified a few areas under this umbrella, including artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The recent fund comes as the electric vehicle industry expects to continue its growth. Market research firm Gartner forecasts 6 million electric cars are shipping this year versus 4 million in 2021.

But global financial markets have also seen significant volatility, with Chinese technology stocks, which takes a hammering, though they have staged a comeback in the last two days.

Bing Yuan, the managing partner of Rockets Capital, said the fund’s closing is a “testimony that in the constantly evolving investment industry, the low carbon economy and technology-driven development are the consensus investment trends.”

Rockets Capital will operate independently from XPeng. The electric car company said the fund will leverage XPeng’s “industry expertise and resources” and “incubate technological innovation.”

The fund has “entered into agreements” to invest in companies, XPeng said, without disclosing any names.