(Yicai Global) July 25 -- Momenta, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, announced today that it raised USD46 million in its series-B funding round. NIO Capital Management Co. led the round and was joined by investors including Daimler AG (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz), Shunwei Capital Partners, Sinovation Ventures and Unity Ventures, Sina.com reported.

This marks the first time that Daimler backed a Chinese startup.

Funds raised will be used in three ways -- strengthening the company's artificial intelligence core in areas including big data, big computing and top AI talent; commercializing optical sensors and high-resolution map technology; and researching and developing L4 driverless technologies for high-frequency demand, said Cao Xudong, the Beijing-based group's chief executive.

Momenta was founded in September 2016 and is dedicated to building an autonomous driving brain. Last year, the firm's series-A funding was led by Blue Lake Capital, followed by Sinovation Ventures and ZhenFund. Momenta's series-A1 round was led by Shunwei Capital earlier this year.