US-based self-driving truck producer TuSimple increased its series D round to $215m yesterday following a $120m extension featuring automotive component manufacturer Mando.
UPS Ventures, the corporate venturing unit owned by logistics group UPS, was also revealed to be part of the extension, having acquired a minority stake in TuSimple last month. Additional funds were supplied by alternative asset manager CDH Investments.
The round was led by internet company Sina, which had made a lead investment in the $95m first tranche, which was closed in December 2018 and revealed two months later. The initial tranche also featured investment firm Composite Capital Management.
Founded in 2015, TuSimple has developed fully autonomous trucks for use in the logistics sector. It currently operates a fleet out of Tucson, Arizona, where its vehicles ship goods from warehouse to warehouse without human intervention.
The additional capital will be put towards expanding the fleet’s long-haul journeys and work on a commercial self-driving truck it is co-developing with original equipment manufacturers and tier 1 product suppliers.
TuSimple is conducting trial journeys between Tuscon and the neighbouring city of Phoenix – a distance of about 170 kilometres – in partnership with UPS.
TuSimple has now raised $298m in funding altogether and the series D round valued it at $1bn pre-money. Sina had previously taken part in a $55m series C round in November 2017 led by Fuhe Capital and backed by Zhiping Capital.
Sina had already led the company’s $20m series B round in August 2017 with a commitment from Nvidia GPU Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for graphics technology producer Nvidia.
