WeRide, as per its reporting on Wednesday, stated that it has raised $200 million through a long-term, mega-investment in Chinese bus maker Yutong. WeRide is one of the most – funded startups that has bought differentiation into the market by introducing autonomous driving capabilities in China.
The unique selling point that WeRide competes on is the next generation SAE level 4 driving standard. Considering how the world today is becoming a technology-driven society and is enveloping in itself the traditional means, China’s most-funded company made a mega-investment in autonomous riding.
What is WeRide? | An insight into the basics
WeRide operates with a mission statement to bring autonomous vehicles into the market. The main reason for it generating a hefty amount of strategic round funding is because it having a first-mover advantage in being open to the public in Guangzhou, China, and covering an area of more than 144 km2.
The trustworthy Robotaxi service raised a total of $403.6M in funding from over six rounds, with the latest budget being enumerated on December 22, 2020, from Series B Round. This amount was funded by sixteen investors, with Zhengzhou Yutong Bus and Qiming Venture Partners being the latest investors. Currently, there are Six Lead Investors.
As told by the spokesperson at TechCrunch, WeRide did not disclose its valuation for this round, which is the first proportion of its Series B round.
WeRide’s Future Prospect
WeRide, the mobility company powered by Al Technology and Robotics, has united their efforts with Yutong, a 57-year-old company, to perform on a new area of interest that includes Research and Development, vehicle platforms, and mobility services. Also, the main point is that they further plan on extending their product line and design autonomous-driving minibusses and city buses together.
WeRide is the first startup in the world that holds driverless test permits in both China and U.S.
Their joint ventures include a front-loaded driverless minibus that is operational without a steering wheel, accelerators or brakes and is off for mass–production. This specific product line extension is designed to be functional in urban areas with open roads, as said by WeRide.
Different autonomous driving startups are competing with one another to bring their innovations into the market to attract funding to support their revolutions. In the latest news, AliBaba – backed Auto X to deploy driverless cars on Shenzhen roads. The testing is still in progress for its various levels in the United States and major cities in China, where the local policies align with supporting futurist transportation tech.
WeRide’s Competitors | What’s happening around?
Pony.Ai, one of the major competitors of WeRide that is also a startup and works on building full-stack autonomous driving solutions. Funded by 25 investors, this company has raised a total of $993M through six funding rounds as reported on November 5, 2020. The aim is to limit human interaction and to tackle complex driving situations independently. Simultaneously, Apple is all set to launch its Electric Car in 2024. Have a detailed insight here:
READ: Apple set to launch Electric Car in 2024 with next level battery tech
To conclude, WeRide’s spokesperson said, “Capital’s attitude is shifting and increasingly bullish about autonomous driving and its commercial future following the COVID-19 pandemic (in China). Many investments are happening in this space because investors don’t want to miss out on any potential leaders in autonomous driving”. Also, “Our Series B round has attracted a lot of interest.”
Images: WeRide
