Chinese Autonomous Driving Startup WeRide Bags More than $600 Million in Five Months

WeRide, a Chinese autonomous driving startup, has raised more than $600 million in the past five months, bringing its valuation to $3.3 billion.

The Guangzhou-based company has now completed its $310 million round C funding led by Alliance Ventures, China Structural Reform Fund and Pro Capital. This is the second investment in WeRide from Alliance Ventures, the venture capital fund of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi (RNM) Alliance.

The four-year-old startup has accumulated more than five million kilometers of autonomous driving mileage and is moving forward with the commercialization of its driverless Robotaxi and Mini Robobus.

Ashwani Gupta, the COO of Nissan, expressed great confidence in the investment. “As China stands at the forefront of helping define the future of mobility, we are delighted to partner with WeRide to bring even more innovative technologies and services to enrich people’s lives in China,” he said.

“Throughout the past three years, Nissan has been a key partner of ours, enabling us to establish a leading fleet of Robotaxis. With their support, we will accelerate the commercial use of our driverless Robotaxis in China,” Tony Han, the Founder and CEO of WeRide, said.

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WeRide’s Robotaxi service became available to the public in June 2020 through Amap, a popular ride-hailing mobile app with 140 million monthly active users.

Pony.ai – another self-driving car startup – announced in February it raised $100 million in an extension of its series C round, which shows investors’ robust confidence in the promising industry.