Thriving in the AI+Transportation World: Embracing the Opportunities and Challenges of 2024
Senior Auto, an autonomous driving company, recently announced the completion of a Series B financing round worth hundreds of millions in Chinese Yuan (CNY), marking a significant achievement in the autonomous driving sector for the year 2024. This funding round was led by Lihet Capital and included participation from Zhejiang Jintou Dingxin, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Financial Holdings.
The funds raised in this round will be primarily allocated for technological research and development, with a focus on expanding into the logistics market. This includes areas such as ports, bulk cargo distribution centers, logistics parks, and short-haul transportation between sites. Additionally, the funding will aid the company’s expansion into overseas markets and support the commercialization of their autonomous driving technology on a larger scale.
Founded in 2020, Senior Auto has made significant strides in the global scene logistics autonomous driving field. The company specializes in providing unmanned container trucks, unmanned intelligent tablet transport equipment, and transportation operation services. He Bei, the CEO of Senior Auto, has a background in Baidu’s autonomous vehicle team and is recognized as an early expert in port autonomous driving.
Senior Auto’s unmanned transport fleet has been deployed in multiple ports across China, including Ningbo, Tangshan, Zhuhai, Suzhou, Xiamen, Suqian, Weifang, and Qingdao. By the end of 2023, the company had deployed a total of 220 unmanned transport vehicles in various business lines of scene logistics and secured commercial paid orders from eight ports.
The company has undergone a total of seven financing rounds since its inception, attracting a diverse group of investors such as Chentao Capital, GF Xinde, Jinbang Capital, ByteDance Strategic Investment Department, Shuimu Venture Capital, Rongyi Investment, Hubin Capital, Zhiqing Industrial, Yonghua Investment, Xinxingji Group, Lihet Capital, and Zhejiang Financial Holdings.
Xu Benbo, Vice President of Lihet Capital, emphasized the significance of autonomous driving technology as a transformative force in the transportation field, comparable to the transformation of energy structure. He pointed out that, in the short term, the adoption of this technology needs to be gradually nurtured and applied in closed or semi-closed scenarios, considering factors such as laws, ethics, and technology.
He Bei, the founder and CEO of Senior Auto, expressed optimism about the future of scene logistics autonomous driving. He highlighted the vast market potential in this field and the company’s commitment to continue investing in productization capabilities, industrial output, and overseas market expansion, marking a comprehensive development stage for Senior Auto.
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