Autonomous truck company Plus fundraising reaches US$420m
Plus, a leading provider of self-driving truck technology, today announced it has added $220 million in new financing co-led by FountainVest Partners and ClearVue Partners, with participation from Quanta Computer Inc., Phi Zoyi Capital, and Millennium Technology Value Partners.
The company’s existing investors including Sequoia Capital China, SAIC Capital, and Full Truck Alliance (FTA) also participated. This investment is an extension of the $200 million round announced last month, which was led by CPE and Guotai Junan International.
The additional funds will enable Plus to further expand its global operations and commercial deployment plans across the U.S., China, Europe and other parts of Asia for its driver-in autonomous driving solution, PlusDrive. The company is in the final stages of certifying PlusDrive for commercial operation in China.
Mass production for the PlusDrive-powered automated truck jointly developed with FAW, the world’s largest heavy truck maker, is set to start this summer. Plus is working with some of the largest fleets in the U.S. and China, such as SF Express, China’s largest logistics company, to pilot commercial freight operations. Truck makers and fleet partners recognize the multitude of benefits delivered by PlusDrive in terms of improved safety, efficiency, comfort, and sustainability.
“Plus is the only autonomous trucking company to start mass production of its autonomous driving system this year and this investment will help fuel plans to bring our automated trucks to market,” said David Liu, CEO and Co-founder, of Plus. “We are grateful to our investors, partners, customers, and team for sharing in our vision to make trucking safer and greener.”
Alex Zhang, Partner and Head of the Industrial group at FountainVest, said: “Self-driving technology will be transformational for the trucking industry by making our world safer and greener, and helping fleets drive more fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs. With the mass production of its autonomous driving system this year, Plus is hitting an important inflection point for the company. We’re thrilled to contribute to the company’s success.”
“Autonomous driving is going to revolutionize the world, across consumer and commercial applications, and ClearVue has been at the forefront of investing in the leading companies bringing autonomy solutions to market. We are confident in Plus and its ability to deliver, and excited to help accelerate its growth plans,” said Kathleen Ying, Partner at ClearVue.
Peter Chiu, head of private equity, Guotai Junan International, said: “Speeding up the development of autonomous trucking technology will create immense economic and environmental impact. Plus is well poised to take a leadership role in driving this fundamental change in the transportation industry, and we are proud to support them in this important mission.”
“Through its innovations in autonomous driving technology and business model, Plus has started to deliver the benefits of autonomous trucking by applying the technology to trucks today,” said Gordon Wan, Principal at SAIC Capital. “The thoughtful approach that Plus is taking to build a sustainable company will pave way for its continued success.”
