Robotruck startup Inceptio raises $270M, JD Logistics and Meituan lead round

Inceptionio, a robotics startup, has raised $270 million, with support from JD Logistics and Meituan. Founded in China, Inceptio is involved in the development of autonomous trucks, and raised $270M in Series B funding led by JD Logistics, Meituan, and a private equity firm PAG, bringing the total amount raised to $490M.

China-based Inceptio, which is developing autonomous trucks, raises $270M Series B led by JD Logistics, Meituan, and PE firm PAG, bringing total raised to $490M.

A Chinese robotruck startup, Inceptio, announced on Tuesday that it has closed a $270 million Series B financing round. As part of the investment round, JD Logistics, Meituan, and PAG were the lead investors. 

Robotruck startup
Robotruck startup

It’s extremely unusual for two Chinese technology giants to join the same funding round, and these developments indicate that they consider Inceptio to be one of the most important companies in the industry.

Details of the funding round include a number of companies, including online retailer JD Logistics, a delivery service arm of JD, life services platform Meituan, and private equity firm PAG. There are also other investors, such as express courier Deppon and IDG Capital, according to an announcement made by Inceptio on Tuesday. The investors did not provide a valuation for the company at the time of the investment. 

  • A total of $490 million has been raised by Inceptio since its founding in 2018.
  • It was announced on Monday that the Shanghai-based startup that is developing self-driving trucks will use the new funds to expand its in-house research on self-driving systems and boost investments in electric trucks in the near future. 

A few months ago, JD and Meituan announced that they would invest in autonomous driving technology. However, the progress on this technology has been slower than most expected. It seems that JD has fallen behind schedule on its own project to develop self-driving trucks.

  • In mid-2018, JD announced it would unveil a highly automated truck model in Beijing and anticipated it would begin commercially operating its fleet in 2020, The Paper reported in Chinese at the time. As of yet, no updates have been announced by the company. The JD spokeswoman didn’t return TechNode’s inquiry about the company’s meeting the target in a timely manner.
  • As a matter of fact, Meituan has been investing in self-driving cars for a number of years now. In addition to Haomo.ai, which is developing auto-driving systems for passenger cars, the company invested in Li Auto, a startup that the company is in the process of developing an electric vehicle. 
  • According to Inceptio, by the end of this year, the company will be mass producing two models of self-driving trucks that will be designed and built by the company. Initially, Dongfeng and Sinotruk, two of the largest Chinese automakers, will be working together to develop these models.
  • It was announced last November that Inceptio had raised $220 million in the Series A round of funding from investors including battery maker CATL, logistics firm GLP, and Nio Capital, which was partly backed by Nio, an electric vehicle maker. 

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