Plus Raises $200M to Advance Self-Driving Trucking Globally
February 10, 2021
Plus, formerly known as Plus.AI, has announced completing a $200 million funding round, led by new investors Guotai Junan International, CPE, and Wanxiang International Investment. Existing investors, including Full Truck Alliance, also participated.
The company said it plans to use the new funds to accelerate the global commercialization and deployment of its automated trucking system. With plans for mass production in 2021, Plus said it will develop a sales and support network to help fleets integrate the Plus automated trucking system into their daily operations. The company will also scale deployments in the U.S., China, and expand to parts of Europe and other parts of Asia.
“Trucking accidents and growing truck driver shortages affect our economy and daily lives,” said David Liu, CEO and co-founder of Plus. “All of us at Plus are inspired every day to develop automated trucks that are going to make our world safer and greener, and help fleets drive more fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs. The additional funding and continued support of our investors will help us further scale our commercialization efforts, enabling us to serve fleets in more countries.”
Since its founding in 2016, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has developed several partnerships on its way to commercialization, including:
- Mass production will begin this year with the world’s largest heavy-truck manufacturer, FA.
- Pilot programs with several large logistics providers, with pre-orders of its automated driving system.
- A joint venture with FAW to jointly develop China’s next generation of commercial vehicles, and be its exclusive provider of autonomous trucking technology.
- First to complete a cross-country commercial freight run in the U.S., using an autonomous truck with Land O’Lakes
- A partnership with the safety-certified Blackberry QNX operating system for automated trucking.
More than 10,000 units have been pre-ordered, Plus said, and the company said it expects to have its automated driving system deployed on tens of thousands of trucks across the U.S., China, and Europe.
More details on Plus can be seen at its website.
