Chinese autonomous driving technology firm UISEE said it raised over CNY1bn (US$155m) in its latest fundraising round, according to local reports.
China’s National Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrade Fund, a CNY50bn (US$7.7bn) state-owned fund put in place to promote the country’s manufacturing industry, also participated in the fundraising round. This was the first time the fund had invested directly in a self-driving technology company.
UISEE, established in 2016, is seen as a technology leader with key “advantages in core autonomous driving software and hardware”.
Its Level-4 technology has been applied in multiple scenarios including airports, buses and robo-taxis in recent years.
The company is now focused on developing a safe and reliable autonomous driving platform that supports “full scene, truly unmanned and all-weather” scenarios.
UISEE has been working with leading Chinese industrial and logistics companies such as Changan Minsheng Logistics, FAW Logistics, BASF and Dongfeng Motor, and its revenue rose 150% last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year the company agreed to collaborate with local vehicle manufacturing JV SAIC-GM-Wuling to build unmanned logistics routes in China. So far, they have applied for licences for more than 20 routes using 100 fully-unmanned transport vehicles.