WeRide gathers $310 million in Series B funding with Futong Group as leading investor

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- WeRide, a Guangzhou-based autonomous driving startup, announced on Jan. 14 it has completed a $310 million Series B funding round, which is led by Yutong Group, a Zhengzhou-based commercial vehicle manufacturer.

The investors of this funding round also include CMC Capital Group, CDB Equipment Manufacturing Fund, Hengjian Emerging Industries Fund, Zhuhai Huajin Capital, Tryin Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Sinovation Ventures and Kinzon Capital.

Mini Robobus co-developed by WeRide and Yutong Group; photo credit: WeRide

The announcement came after the company closed its Series B1 financing in late December 2020, which raised $200 million from Yutong Group, the largest-ever investment in autonomous driving made by a Chinese automaker.

In the meantime, WeRide announced the beginning of its Series C financing round.

Founded in Dec. 2017, WeRide engages in developing Level 4 autonomous driving technologies. It is now the only autonomous driving company to gain strategic investment from leading automakers of both commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles (the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance). 

Leveraging its strategic partnership with major OEMs and mobility service providers, WeRide became the first autonomous driving company in China to roll out a publicly accessible Robotaxi service. In July 2020, it was granted China’s first driverless (without safety operators) testing permit.

“In 2021, more brilliant investors and partners will join our autonomous driving business and bring us strategic industrial and urban resources. We will step up our efforts to improve the stability and safety of autonomous driving technologies and make the operation of autonomous cars more compliant with laws and regulations, so as to offer industry and citizens independent and controllable self-driving technologies and products,” said Han Xu, founder and CEO of WeRide.