China-based autonomous driving technology developer DeepRoute has received $50m in a pre-series A round led by Fosun RZ Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle for diversified conglomerate Fosun.
GSR Capital, the venture capital arm of investment group GoldenSand Capital, also participated in the round, as did VC firm Green Pine Capital Partners and VC funds Yunqi Partners and Ventech China.
Founded in February this year, DeepRoute provides autonomous vehicle manufacturers with a range of hardware and software products that include sensors, simulators and high-fidelity perception algorithms.
The products support level 4 self-driving systems, which freely operate within prescribed urban boundaries, and have been road tested across three Chinese cities in differing driving conditions.
DeepRoute is currently collaborating with state-owned carmaker Dongfeng Motor Group, having helped it secure a licence to test self-driving passenger vehicles with a view to piloting a demonstration taxi service in Hubei province next month.
Jin Longhua, chairman of Fosun RZ Capital, was quoted by China Money Network as saying: “We are firmly optimistic about the development trend of the autonomous driving and intelligent networking industry.
“The team of DeepRoute has been following the global trend of technological innovation and has pioneered and applied leading domestic and even global innovative technologies in a number of key areas.”