SAN DIEGO, Feb. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TuSimple, a global
self-driving truck company, announced today it has raised
$95 million USD in Series D funding
based on a pre-money valuation of $1 billion
USD. The new capital investment will be used to fund
TuSimple's commercial ramp-up and product development.
With this round, TuSimple will continue to grow its commercial
autonomous fleet, which makes daily fully-autonomous deliveries in
Arizona, and soon in Texas, for large shippers and fleets. The
fleet allows the company to earn revenue while validating its SAE
Level 4 fully-autonomous system. The company currently has 12
contracted customers and is making three to five delivery trips per
day. It will use the funds to grow the fleet to over 50 trucks by
June.
The investment will also be used to fund critical joint
production programs with its OEM, Tier 1, and sensor partners in
order to achieve full commercialization. Suppliers essential to
truck manufacturing are working with TuSimple on the integration of
autonomous software with powertrain, braking and steering systems,
an essential step for the commercial production and operation of
self-driving trucks.
The $95 million financing was
completed in December 2018. This
brings TuSimple's total funding to date to $178 million. This latest round was led by Sina
Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA), a leading technology company widely
recognized for developing Weibo, one of the world's most popular
social media platforms. Composite Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm focused on
consumer, technology and transportation companies globally also
participated in this round.
"TuSimple consistently reaches their milestones on and ahead of
schedule and we are confident that they are poised to bring the
first commercial self-driving trucks to market," said Colin Xie, Vice General Manager, Investment
Department, Sina Corp. "We are focused on finding the global
leaders in artificial intelligence and TuSimple is ahead of the
pack. The combination of technical excellence and an impressive
leadership team has propelled the company into unicorn status."
"Autonomous driving is one of the most complex AI systems humans
have ever built. After three years of intense focus to reach our
technical goals, we have moved beyond research into the serious
work of building a commercial solution," said Dr. Xiaodi Hou, Founder, President and Chief
Technology Officer, TuSimple. "We are thankful for the continued
support of our investors and partners. This is not only a great
sign of confidence in TuSimple, but also for the future of
autonomous trucking."
TuSimple's Level 4 fully-autonomous semi-trucks are the only
trucks capable of driving from depot-to-depot without human
intervention. To support Level 4 driving on complex highway and
local streets, the company has developed an innovative
camera-centric perception solution that allows TuSimple's trucks to
see 1,000 meters ahead of the vehicle. The vision range is farther
and delivers better visibility than any other autonomous driving
system today. This level of performance is essential for autonomous
commercial trucks to operate safely at highway speeds — rain or
shine.
TuSimple is aiming to transform the $800-billion U.S. trucking industry by increasing
safety, lowering costs, reducing carbon emissions and providing
tools to optimize fleet logistics for operators.
About TuSimple
TuSimple is a global autonomous truck company, headquartered in
San Diego and operating
self-driving trucks out of Tucson,
Arizona. Founded in 2015, TuSimple is developing a
commercial-ready Level 4 (SAE) fully-autonomous driving solution
for the logistics industry. TuSimple is the only self-driving truck
company capable of driving from depot-to-depot without human
intervention and does so every day for its customers. The company
is driven by a mission to increase safety, decrease transportation
costs, and reduce carbon emissions. For more information, please
visit www.tusimple.ai, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contacts:
TuSimple: Stacy Morris, email,
310-415-9188
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SOURCE TuSimple