The funds will be used for the commercial deployment plans of the company’s driver-in autonomous driving solution PlusDrive

Plus

Plus is in the final stages of securing certification for commercial operation of its PlusDrive in China. (Credit: Plus)

Self-driving truck technology company Plus has raised an additional $220m in an extension of the $200m funding round that took place in February.

Co-led by FountainVest Partners and ClearVue Partners, the new funding round saw the participation of Quanta Computer, Phi Zoyi Capital, and Millennium Technology Value Partners.

Existing investors including Sequoia Capital China, SAIC Capital, and Full Truck Alliance (FTA) have also taken part in the financing round.

Plus will use the additional funds for the commercial deployment plans of its driver-in autonomous driving solution PlusDrive across the US, China, Europe and other parts of Asia.

Currently, the company is in the final stages of securing certification for the commercial operation of its PlusDrive in China.

Plus stated that the mass production of PlusDrive-powered automated trucks, which are jointly developed with heavy truck maker FAW, will begin this summer.

To pilot commercial freight operations, the company has also partnered with some of the major fleets in the US and China.

In March, China’s logistics company SF Express has selected Plus for a commercial freight pilot to show how supervised autonomous trucks improve logistics operations.

The trial includes running supervised autonomous trucks of Plus on two long-haul routes, Wuhan to Wuxi (1,448km round-trip) and Changshu to Wuhan (1,609km round-trip).

Founded in 2016, the Silicon Valley-headquartered startup is applying full-stack self-driving technology to trucks for large scale autonomous commercial transport.

In February this year, Plus raised $200m in a funding round that was led by CPE and Guotai Junan International. It also saw participation from existing investors, including Full Truck Alliance (FTA).

Guotai Junan International private equity head Peter Chiu said: “Speeding up the development of autonomous trucking technology will create immense economic and environmental impact.

“Plus is well poised to take a leadership role in driving this fundamental change in the transportation industry, and we are proud to support them in this important mission.”