Self-Driving Truck Firm Plus adds $220M in New Financing
March 31, 2021
Plus (formerly Plus.ai) has announced it added $220 million in new financing, which will enable it to further expand its global operations and commercial deployment plans across the U.S., China, Europe and other parts of Asia. The developer of self-driving truck technology said it is in the final stages of certifying its PlusDrive for commercial operation in China.
The new financing was co-led by FountainVest Partners and ClearVue Partners, with participation from Quanta Computer, Phi Zoyi Capital, and Millennium Technology Value Partners. The latest funding is an extension of the company’s $200 million round that was announced last month.
Mass production for the PlusDrive-powered automated truck, jointly developed with heavy truck maker FAW, is set to start this summer, the company said. The company is working with some of the largest fleets in the U.S. and China, including SF Express, China’s largest logistics company, to pilot commercial freight operations.
“Plus is the only autonomous trucking company to start mass production of its autonomous driving system this year and this investment will help fuel plans to bring our automated trucks to market,” said David Liu, CEO and co-founder of Plus. “We are grateful to our investors, partners, customers, and team for sharing in our vision to make trucking safer and greener.”
“Autonomous driving is going to revolutionize the world, across consumer and commercial applications,” said Kathleen Ying, partner at ClearVue. “We are confident in Plus and its ability to deliver, and excited to help accelerate its growth plans.”
Plus was founded in 2016 by a group of serial entrepreneurs and industry veterans. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the company is applying full-stack self-driving technology to trucks today to enable large-scale autonomous commercial transport. It is working with truck manufacturers, shippers and fleet operators to begin mass production of its automated driving system. For more details, visit the Plus website.
