(Yicai Global) May 12 -- Aiways Holdings, a Chinese new energy vehicle startup backed by internet giant Tencent Holdings, has postponed paying last month’s wages following similar delays in March as it seeks funding.

Aiways’ human resource department announced the delay on May 10, insiders at the Shanghai-based company told Yicai Global. Management is working hard on financing and will make up for all the delayed wages and benefits once the funds are in place, it added.

Last September, China Liberal Education Holdings said it had reached a non-binding agreement to acquire Aiways at a valuation of between USD5 billion and USD6 billion. But China Liberal pulled out on April 30, the provider of educational services said on May 2.

Many Chinese carmakers, including WM Motor, Enovate Motors, and Hengchi Automobile Trading, have hit operational difficulties since the start of this year due to increasingly fierce competition and frequent capital chain problems caused by poor financing.

Aiways has held eight funding rounds since it was established in 2017, the most recent of which was led by Chen Xuanlin and his firm Dongbai Group. Chen has taken part in all fundraisers, while Tencent pumped CNY1.2 billion (USD172.8 million) into the firm in October 2017.

Founded by Fu Qiang, who previously held senior positions at Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volvo, Shanghai-based Aiways has a factory with an annual production capacity of 150,000 autos in Shangrao, Jiangxi province.

Aiways’ first mass-produced vehicle, the Aiways U5, was launched in December 2019, priced from CNY197,900 to CNY292,100 (USD28,478 to USD42,033). It sold less than 3,000 in 2020, 2021, and in the first eight months of last year.

The firm also has a research and development center in Shanghai, a methanol-to-hydrogen research center and production base in Denmark, as well as a European sales hub and an R&D center in Germany. It was one of the first Chinese carmakers to start shipping overseas, having entered 10 foreign markets since June 2020. But total deliveries abroad have not reached 2,000.

Editor: Martin Kadiev