WeRide, a CEC Capital Group portfolio company, completes Series B1 financing round of USD 200 million

USD 200 million strategic investment from Yutong Group is the single largest investment made to date by a China-based OEM in the autonomous vehicle industry 

WeRide (the “Company”), a portfolio company of CEC Capital Group, announced the completion of its B1 round of financing. Yutong Group’s strategic investment of USD 200 million has become the single largest investment made to date by a China-based OEM in the autonomous vehicle industry. After this financing round, the two parties will work together to drive the application of autonomous driving technology in microcirculation buses, regular buses and other commercial vehicles. They will also jointly explore diversified smart transportation modes and promote the large-scale commercialization of fully driverless vehicles. At the same time, WeRide has also become the only autonomous vehicle company that has received investment from both a large commercial vehicle company and a passenger vehicle company (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance).

Han Xu, founder and CEO of WeRide, states: “WeRide has always been a leader in the autonomous vehicle industry since our establishment 3 years ago. This new round of financing provides us with not only strong development resources, but also strategic support from industry leaders. Yutong is the world’s largest new energy bus company. Their investment is affirmation that we have steadily developed our technology as a core competency and continue to expand the boundaries for the business. We have also taken the lead in completing the full application of our technology in unmanned passenger cars, trucks and buses. WeRide and Yutong Group will closely collaborate in many key areas such as technology research and development, vehicle platforms, and transportation operations to form complementary advantages and jointly create a new urban transportation system.”

“Achieving unmanned vehicle driving depends on the joint efforts of all participants in the transportation industry. It is WeRide's long-term goal to make unmanned driving mainstream. In the past three years, the Company’s achievements have been closely tied to the formation of long-term, mutually beneficial strategic partnerships. By focusing on leveraging strategic synergies with OEMs and transportation platforms, WeRide has become the first autonomous vehicle company in China to launch a robotaxi service fully operational to the public. In its first year of operation, it safely completed 147,128 trips and served more than 60,000 passengers with no reported safety incidents. In July 2020, WeRide obtained China's first driverless test permit.”

“Going forward, WeRide will make every effort to promote the implementation of driverless taxis, driverless minibuses and other transportation modes, to create autonomous urban transportation systems, and to bring a safer, more convenient, economic and comfortable way of transportation.”