XPeng,Baidu-backed commercial vehicle AD startup Autra.tech closes Pre-A round

Beijing (Gasgoo)- On June 8th, China’s autonomous driving developer, Autra.tech, announced the completion of its Pre-A financing round, raising RMB200 million ($29.91 million). 

Photo credit: Autra.tech

The company attracted several well-known investors in the Pre-A round, including Cathay Capital, Xiang He Capital, and BAI Capital.

Before this round, Autra.tech has finished two Angel rounds in October and December 2021, jointly led by IDG Capital and SF Express. Other Angel investors include XPeng’s Rockets Capital and Baidu Ventures. The autonomous driving startup bagged RMB191.5 million ($28.64 million) through the two Angel rounds. 

Founded in July 2021, Autra.tech strives for the development of commercial vehicle-dedicated L4 autonomous driving technologies and commercial applications. The startup aims to perfect the middle-mile logistics capacity in economic and efficiency aspects through autonomous driving technologies. 

The joint founders of Autra.tech are experts in each’s respective fields with impressive backgrounds, including Tao Ji, ex-general manager of Baidu’s autonomous driving business unit and intelligent transportation product R&D, Sun Haowen, former founder of Pony.ai’s commercial vehicle arm PonyTron, Liao Ruoxue, former president of Baidu’s technology committee, and Ding Fei, former head of investment of IDG Capital’s technology and mobility sectors.