This new round comes less than four months after the company closed its nearly CNY 1 billion (USD 157 million) Series A round in December last year, which enabled Haomo to turn into a unicorn
Beijing-based autonomous driving startup Haomo.AI has scored hundreds of millions of CNY in its Series A+ financing round led by Bank of China Group Investment Limited and participated by existing investor Shoucheng Holdings Limited.
This new round comes less than four months after the company closed its nearly CNY 1 billion (USD 157 million) Series A round in December last year, which enabled Haomo to turn into a unicorn back then.
Haomo will spend the fresh funds on R&D and talent acquisition to cement its leading position in the autonomous driving industry in China and to establish a more solid barrier to fend off competitors.
"This round marks a new developmental milestone for Haomo," said Zhang Kai, chairman of Haomo. "With the help of partners and investors, Haomo will continue to maintain its leading position in mass production of autonomous driving solutions and AI technology," he added.
“Haomo expects to roll out the urban road version of its in-house developed Level 2 autonomous driving system, the NOH (Navigation on HPilot), by mid-2022, and the all-scenario version in the second half of this year," said Gu Weihao, CEO of Haomo.
Currently, the NOH system assists passenger vehicle drivers mainly on highways, with features such as automated steering, acceleration, and braking. By now, NOH has been available on six car models produced by Great Wall Motor. The system has assisted tens of thousands of owners of WEY Mocca, Tank 300, WEY Latte, WEY Macchiato, Haval Shenshou, and Tank 500 vehicles to drive more than 7 million kilometers, making Haomo the No. 1 company in China in terms of mass production of autonomous driving solutions.
Gu added that the company has planned to launch HSD, the Haomo Self-Driving fleet in 2023.
"Haomo is the most promising autonomous driving company in China，with proprietary core technologies," said Liu Jian, chairman of Bank of China Group Investment Limited, the direct investment arm of State-owned financial conglomerate Bank of China.
"We expect the company, guided by its windmill strategy, to realize a virtuous circle of data, technology and products, through mass production and shipment, as well as the establishment of data intelligence system MANA," Liu added.
In addition to providing Level 2 self-driving system, Haomo also produces low-speed unmanned Level 4 autonomous driving logistics vehicles. Since April 6, such logistics vehicles, have started to deliver groceries ordered on Meituan's platform to residents in Xuhui district, Shanghai, which is undergoing a citywide lockdown as of April 1 to fight its worst COVID-19 outbreak.
Since the completion of this Series A+ round, Haomo, which has already counted investors including Meituan, Qualcomm Ventures, GL Ventures, has kicked off its Series B funding round.