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Enovate Motors

Electric vehiclesChina
New to Unitard
πŸ’€ Dead / Bankrupt
PeakΒ $1.85 BillionToday
~-100%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2018
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $1.85 Billion ’21
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    2023
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    Wiped out
Capital raised
$1.67B
Total raised
$569K/day
Raised per day

Total raised averaged per day over approximately 8.0 years from founding to bankruptcy or shutdown. This is not measured cash burn. Methodology

Funding: Crunchbase/Tracxn
Current status
Official closure (2024); collapsed April 2023 with showroom shutdowns and unpaid wages

The rise & fall

7 moments Β· 2015–2024

The key moments.

2015
Founded as Dearcc
Starts life as budget-EV brand Dearcc (η”΅ε’–), chasing China's electric wave.
CnEVPost
2018
Reborn as Enovate β€” and a unicorn
The budget badge gives way to premium smart-EV ambitions as the valuation clears $1B.
CnEVPost
Oct 2020
5 billion yuan of state money
State-owned banks and government guidance funds pile in, lifting total funding toward $1.67B.
DealStreetAsia
2021
The peak: $1.85B, IPO-bound$1.85B
Valued near $1.85B while preparing a 2021 listing that never happens.
Tracxn
2022
The ME7 doesn't sell
The flagship SUV finds few buyers as China's EV price war crushes second-tier brands.
CnEVPost
Apr 2023
Showrooms dark, wages unpaid β€” joins the Unitard Club πŸ’”
Operations collapse in April 2023: salaries stop and stores shut their doors.
CnEVPost
2024
Official closure
The company is formally wound up β€” another casualty of the EV shakeout.
CnEVPost
$1.85Bof peak value erased Β· 8 years

How it happened

Enovate Motors (倩际汽车), which began as budget-EV maker Dearcc before rebranding in 2018, was a smart-EV unicorn that raised roughly $1.67B β€” including a 5-billion-yuan round in October 2020 from state-owned banks and government guidance funds β€” at a valuation near $1.85B while preparing a 2021 IPO that never happened.

Its ME7 SUV failed to sell in China's price war; showrooms closed and salaries went unpaid in April 2023, and the company officially shut down in 2024, another second-tier casualty of the EV shakeout.

Source: CnEVPost / DealStreetAsia / Tracxn (smart-EV unicorn; raised ~$1.67B incl. 5B-yuan round Oct 2020, ~$1.85B valuation, IPO-bound 2021; showrooms closed and wages cut Apr 2023; official closure 2024)

Founder

  • Zhang Hailiang
    Founder, Chairman & CEO
    No public profile matched

Disclosed investors (3)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round Β· Sources: 36kr.com 1 β†—, 36kr.com 2 β†— Β· 2026-10-23 Β· Methodology Β· Leaderboard

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πŸ¦„