The company plans to deliver L3 self-driving trucks in batches with Chinese OEM's to customers by the end of 2021.
According to 36kr, NIO and G7 backed autonomous truck technology and operating company, Inceptio Technology (嬴彻科技) announced the completion of USD 100 million equity financing. This puts the company ahead of its competitors as the first firm in the Chinese autonomous industry to obtain staged trials of its prototype of Level 3 mass-production autonomous truck model jointly developed with Dongfeng Trucks (东风商用车).
Speaking at a press briefing, Ma Zheren (马喆人), founder and CEO of Inceptio Technology, said, “obtaining staged trials of its prototype of Level 3 mass-production autonomous truck model jointly developed by Inceptio Technology and Dongfeng Trucks is a landmark in the process of China's autonomous driving industrialization. Thanks to the recognition of core technology and business models from industrial partners, we will continue the integration and innovation of self-driving and the laws of the automobile industry. We are confident that the firm will realize the mass production of autonomous driving trucks and the commercial operation of self-driving trucks as early as possible.”
As a startup company in the field of self-driving trucks, Inceptio Technology's business model is "technology+operation." It focuses on the transformation of line-haul logistics by providing a more secure, efficient, and economical Transportation-As-A-Service (TaaS). Up to now, the company's smart truck asset service has signed with more than one hundred logistics companies and has achieved significant commercialization progress.
According to its official website, the company was jointly established by NIO Capital, Global Logistics Properties Ltd (GLP) and China's leading IoT company, G7. Besides, G7 serves more than 60,000 customers covering all areas of logistics, such as Express logistics, urban distribution, professional transportation and contract logistics, and connects more than 1.2 million vehicles.
As the shareholder and partner of Inceptio, G7's founder and CEO, Zhai Xuehun (翟学魂), said, "The self-driving truck network based on logistics, big data and AI will become a basic pay-as-you-go service in the logistics industry. The firm is willing to share its recognition of the logistics industry with Inceptio and understanding of customers' needs, make full use of G7's established big data capabilities and offline service network, and jointly welcome the arrival of the 'Mobility as a Service' era of the logistics industry."
In the field of autonomous driving trucks, Tusimple is one of the leading players, which is also the main competitor of Inceptio. In an interview with EqualOcean, Chen Mo (陈默), the founder and CEO of the company, said that the profit could come soon in 2020 when the company is able to remove the people. By then, the company could break even in 2023 or 2024 once its self-driving vehicles reach mass production in two to three years. However, he also mentioned that the worst case might be that the autonomous driving startup breaks even in 2027. Based on the advantages of time, Inceptio may grab some shares from the self-driving truck markets.