Technology , AI Author：Niko Yang Editor：Yiru Qian Jun 08, 2022 06:35 PM (GMT+8)

Recruiting truck drivers becomes hard in an aging economy.

High speed truck

Self-driving truck maker Autra Technology (in Chinese: 千挂科技) announced that it has collected CNY 200 million in Pre Series A round of financing previously in April, from Cathay Capital Private Equity, Xianghe Capital and BAI Capital.

The company finalised two Angel rounds in last October and December respectively from investors led by IDG Capital and SF Express, for a total value of CNY 195 million.

Founded in 2021, Autra is managed by the founding team who once worked for Baidu, Pony.ai and IDG Capital. It embarks on researching level 4 driverless truck solutions.

The company's CEO Tao Ji expected the size of domestic truck market to exceed CNY 1 trillion, and a potentially severe labor shortage in the field will then spur a gigantic demand for autnomous trucks.

He also pointed out that technology, volume production and operation are important for achieving real self-driving logistic fleets.

TuSimple (TSP: NASDAQ), Maxieye and Inceptio Technology are the main Chinese researchers in the field.