Car-hailing platform Shouqi Limousine & chauffeur receives USD 106M for Series B+
Shouqi Limousine & chauffeur
Founded in: 1992
Financing status: RMB 700 million (USD 106 million) for Series B+ financing in 2017
Car-hailing platform, Shouqi Limousine & chauffeur, received USD 106 million for Series B+ on November 21 to build a smart ecosystem.
Shouqi Limousine & chauffeur is one of the first car-hailing businesses in China. In July 2014, the company launched its plan to restructure itself by taking an international, Internet and market-oriented approach and reshaping its business around the real economy, Internet, and capital.
Founded in 1992 in Beijing, the company has attracted more than 20 million users, over two million of which are active daily registering over 500,000 orders daily. The company currently owns and operates a fleet of more than 60,000 vehicles on its platform. Additionally, it has nearly 500 outlets across more than 53 Chinese cities. Shouqi Limousine & chauffeur has an entrepreneurial aptitude for the online car rental business in 38 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and others.
Previously, Shouqi Limousine & chauffeur received financing funding from Taiping Asset Management Co., Ltd., together with Tianan Property Insurance Co., Ltd., Zimu (Beijing) Fund Management Co., Ltd. and CCB International.
This new financing round brings Shouqi’s series B round to a total of USD 193 million, according to a company announcement. Last month, the company completed a RMB 600 million (USD 90 million) series B round from a subsidiary of Oceanwide Holdings, Beijing Mingqi Management Consultant Company. While this Series B+ round attracted NIO capital, a private equity fund established by the Chinese electric car company, NIO, as well as Baidu Inc. and Silk Road Huachuang Beijing Co., Ltd. joined.
With Baidu and NIO, Shouqi plans to build a smart mobility platform based on Baidu’s conversational AI platform, DuerOS, open-source Apollo autonomous driving platform, as well as NIO’s EV-oriented resources.
Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple receives USD 55M for Series C
TuSimple
Founder: Chen Mo
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 365 million (USD 55 million) for Series C financing in 2017
Autonomous trucking startup, TuSimple, received USD 55 million for Series C on November 21 for test rides.
TuSimple is an autonomous trucking startup that offers driverless truck solutions based on its technologies in computer vision, algorithms, mapping, and AI. The tech used by TuSimple includes extensive HD mapping of the routes driven, as well as three millimeter-wave radar units, in addition to the camera data from eight cameras and the resulting computer vision processing it does. Meanwhile, it is working to create the first commercially viable autonomous truck driving platform with L4 (SAE) levels of safety.
Its test ride between San Diego, California and Yuma, Arizona took place in June of 2017, spanning 200 miles and using camera data primarily to navigate the highway route. Moreover, a car identification tool developed by TuSimple using its image recognition software will be able to identify car make and model with 97 percent accuracy from photos of vehicles uploaded to its site.
Founded in 2015 in Beijing, the company has research and developed facilities in both Beijing and San Diego, and has more than 100 employees.
This Series C financing round was led by Fuhe Capital, with Sina, and Zhiping Capital participating as investors. The capital will be used to further invest in the research and development of autonomous trucking technology, as well as in its test rides.
(Top photo from Baidu Images.)
