Driven by a desire to create domestic alternatives to leading western chip technology, Chinese semiconductor businesses are attracting substantial investment. Horizon Robotics, a five-year-old company recognized as a unicorn and focused on AI chips for robotics and self-driving cars, revealed on Tuesday that it has obtained $150 million in new funding.

This investment represents the initial portion of a Series C funding round exceeding $700 million that Horizon is currently pursuing. The funding was co-led by leading investment firms 5Y Capital (previously Morningside Venture Capital), Hillhouse Capital, and Capital Today. Guotai Junan’s international division and KTB Network, an investment organization associated with the Korean business KTB, also contributed to the round.

This funding round follows closely on the heels of Horizon’s $600 million Series B round completed less than two years ago, which established a post-money valuation of $3 billion for the company. That round also included significant investment from Korean financial entities such as SK China, the Chinese arm of SK Group, and SK Hynix, SK’s semiconductor division.

The company, established by a former employee of Baidu, secured a Series A funding round of over $100 million, spearheaded by Intel Capital, in late 2017.

With these newly acquired funds, Horizon intends to accelerate the development and launch of its automotive chips and self-driving technology solutions. The company also plans to foster a collaborative “open ecosystem” for its industry collaborators.

Over the last few years, China has been actively working to reduce its reliance on western semiconductor leaders across various industries, including smartphones and automobiles. Domestic companies like Horizon Robotics and Black Sesame Technologies, alongside telecommunications giant Huawei, are dedicating significant resources to autonomous driving processors, with the goal of equaling or surpassing the capabilities of technologies from Nvidia and Intel’s Mobileye.

Horizon states that its automotive partners include prominent original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers such as Audi, Bosch, Continental, SAIC Motor, and BYD.

Projections from investment bank CITIC Securities indicate that by 2030, Chinese suppliers will power 75% of China’s vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities, a significant increase from the 20% recorded in 2019.