Aiways
Electric vehiclesChina
💀 Dead / Bankrupt
Peak $1.59 BillionToday
~-100%
from peak
- 🦄Became a unicorn2018
- 📈Peak valuation$1.59 Billion ’18
- 💔Became a Unitard2023
- 💸Last valuationWiped out
🔥 Raised & burned
$792M
Total raised
$336K/day
Burned · 6.5y alive
Funding: Crunchbase roster
Current status
Ceased China operations amid insolvency (2023–24); production halted, salaries unpaid, Shanghai HQ lease terminated
How it happened
Aiways was a Tencent-, CATL- and Didi-backed Chinese EV startup that became a unicorn in 2018 at about $1.59B and was reportedly seeking funds at a $2B valuation in early 2021. After raising roughly $1.4B it never gained real traction in China's brutal price war: production halted and salaries went unpaid in 2023, it terminated its Shanghai headquarters lease and retreated toward Europe, and by early 2024 it was on the brink of bankruptcy — effectively ceasing operations as one of the many second-tier casualties of China's EV shakeout.
Source: Caixin / Yicai / CB Insights (unicorn 2018 at ~$1.59B, sought $2B Jan 2021, raised ~$1.4B from Tencent/CATL/Didi; production halt and unpaid wages 2023, brink of bankruptcy 2024)
