Graphics processing technology provider Nvidia confirmed on Wednesday that it has invested in China-based autonomous driving startup TuSimple as part of a round sized at more than $20m.
The round was led by internet company Sina, and Nvidia made its contribution through its corporate venture capital unit, Nvidia GPU Ventures.
Founded in 2015, TuSimple is developing an autonomous driving platform for trucks that uses cameras to scan the surrounding environment up to a distance of 200 metres from the vehicle.
While the size of each participant’s investment has not been revealed, a report in the South China Morning Post two weeks ago stated Nvidia had acquired a 3% stake in TuSimple as part of a series B round.
Xiaodi Hou, TuSimple’s chief technology officer, said: “Nvidia is unrivalled in delivering the computing performance needed for autonomous vehicles.
“By combining Nvidia technology with our expertise in computer vision and artificial intelligence, we are building a world-class platform that will disrupt the freight industry. We highly value our strategic partnership with Nvidia.”
TuSimple received RMB50m ($7.5m at current exchange rates) in funding in 2015 according to its website, but has not disclosed details about that round.