330: Chapter 330: 30% Sold in Series B Round

"What you are doing right now is no small matter; it's not just about making furniture, but building an ecosystem.

An ecosystem requires burning money, a lot of money.

The money you have in your account isn't enough, so a few of us old shareholders chatted and felt this is an opportunity, provided you are willing to accept the current valuation."

Lei Jun's smile froze instantly. Valuation!

This was a topic he really didn't want to discuss.

Entering the India market, he was once again sniped by Transsion and backstabbed by partners. Although profits had risen, sales figures remained unreliable.

This caused the market to be generally pessimistic about Xiaomi, and hence this valuation...

"Old Chen, you name a number."

On the other end of the line, Chen Qiming chuckled; Lei Jun was still trying to set a trap for him.

"Old Lei, that's not very fair of you, is it?

The valuation isn't up to me; it's up to the market.

Tomorrow at 10 AM, I've booked a place. Come over; there's not just me here, but also a few old friends and new friends. Let's talk in person."

The call ended.

Lin Bin watched the change in Lei Jun's expression, a look of anticipation appearing on his face as well.

"Who was that?"

Lei Jun put down his phone, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly: "Someone bringing money!"

The next day at 9:50 AM, Lei Jun's car pulled up to a private club.

He had been to this place before, but the last time he was here, Xiaomi's valuation was still 5 billion USD.

Pushing open the private room, five people were already seated inside.

Chen Qiming sat at the head of the table, with Xu Da from his Shunwei Capital on the left, along with some partners from Goldman Sachs and Hillhouse Capital.

"Old Lei, please sit."

Chen Qiming stood up to shake hands, and the others followed suit.

After the service staff saw them take their seats, they left the room very discreetly.

"Old Lei, everyone here is an acquaintance, so we won't beat around the bush.

That Weibo post yesterday was very imposing, and the concept was grand. This direction is correct, and it is the biggest piece of cake in the current tech consumption field.

But the problem is, the cake is too big, and the knife and fork are too expensive. Xiaomi's valuation cannot support this goal."

Lei Jun also nodded: "Qiming, you are right, so I came today. I'm counting on you all today!"

Seeing Lei Jun being so straightforward, General Manager Zhang from Goldman Sachs also smiled.

He then went straight to the point.

"We discussed it, and the initial idea is for the Dami Auto business to raise funds independently, for Xiaomi smart home to raise funds independently, or you can bundle them together.

But no matter how you raise funds, the core condition is that at the Dami Group level, this time you must release more than 30% of the shares."

Lei Jun glanced at Xu Da, the co-founder of Shunwei Capital; clearly, he hadn't participated in this meeting either.

Lei Jun's eyelid twitched.

More than 30%.

Although they had gone through three rounds of financing, the founding team currently still held 74.5% of the shares, still possessing stable control.

If they released more than 30% of the shares to external investors all at once, it meant the founding team's control might fall below the first warning line of 50%.

"30%?"

Lei Jun picked up his teacup and blew on the steam.

"General Manager Zhang, do you think Xiaomi is very short of money right now?"

His good friend Chen Qiming played the bad cop.

"Old Lei, don't be angry. We only want equity, not management rights.

We won't interfere in small matters, and we will absolutely support you on major strategies."

General Manager Zhang next to him also softened his tone significantly: "Although we are asking for a lot, the valuation we are giving you is this number!"

After saying that, Goldman Sachs' General Manager Zhang reached out his hand and gestured a number.

But this number, which he thought was very high, did not move Lei Jun; he just blew on his teacup again...

"Last year our valuation was 5 billion, and now you want 30% and only give us a valuation of 7 billion.

We can't have the valuation get lower the better our relationship is, right!"

Facing Lei Jun's appeal to their relationship, these investors all shook their heads in unison.

"Mr. Lei, that was last year.

Last year, Xiaomi phone sales were still in the top five domestically.

Valuation is always based on value; you are also an experienced investor, and for the valuation market, it's never the case that the longer the time, the higher the valuation.

Instead, it is based on its business, market share, and user expectations. Valuation can rise because of high business performance and fall because of declining business."

Xu Da also showed his value at this moment: "Actually, its valuation is indeed a bit low; after all, these are two trillion-dollar markets: car manufacturing and smart homes.

Real estate is hot right now; once Xiaomi smart home takes 20% of the market, this will be a hundred-billion-dollar enterprise. How about adding a bit more?"

Before Xu Da finished speaking, the other representatives started coughing.

Each of their faces was full of "I know you are one of us, there's no need to be like this..."

"How about this, since Mr. Xu has spoken, we will give some face and make it 7.5 billion.

Then for the 30% of shares, we can cooperate with Mr. Lei's actions, such as poaching some giants in the automotive field.

Then, release news from time to time to keep the outside world confident in Dami Auto."

Lei Jun haggled with everyone for a long time, but he still didn't change their minds.

After all, Lei Jun's mouth could say things nicely, but reality didn't listen to his words.

At 3 PM that day, the official Xiaomi Weibo posted a message with only one sentence:

"Thanks to our old friends for their support, Xiaomi's Series B financing has officially ended.

Dami Auto and Xiaomi smart home are officially setting sail."

This was a photo of the signing ceremony. Lei Jun stood in the center, flanked by partners from Qiming, Shunwei, and Goldman Sachs—our firms—each holding a contract, seemingly very optimistic about the future of Dami Company.

Just when all the Mi Fans began to be surprised, Lei Jun posted another deeply moving long article, attempting to awaken the Mi Fans once again.

"In the past few days, I have seen many comments.

Some people question the authenticity of Dami Company building cars; they say we can't even make phones properly, yet we want to build cars. Others say we are riding on the hype, telling stories, and building cars with PPTs.

I don't blame them.

Because they don't understand Xiaomi, they don't understand me. The name 'Lei Jun' still carries some weight in the investment circle."

"I am officially answering all the doubts.

Today, Dami Company officially completed its Series B financing, raising another 2.25 billion USD at a valuation of 7.5 billion USD.

Originally, I didn't want to raise so much; after all, with the support of Mi Fans, ten billion was completely enough. But unfortunately, the ones who came were top-tier investment banks!

Their investment also represents their optimism about the future of Dami Company. It wouldn't look good to refuse them, so in the end, everyone chipped in a bit, and we ended up receiving a bit more. However, this also gives us more capital to go big!"

Finally, Lei Jun left a silhouette.

Some Mi Fans carefully pieced it together and eventually found the answer was 2016.

Three years later?

Wouldn't that be very soon?