Senior Auto Announces B+ Financing to Scale Autonomous Logistics, Expands from Closed Sites to Open-Road Deployments
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Senior Auto secures B+ round to scale autonomous logistics, expanding from closed sites to open-road trunk operations.
According to reports, Senior Auto has closed a Series B financing described as “hundreds of millions of yuan” (roughly $30–$140 million), to accelerate R&D and market expansion for its driverless logistics solutions. Backers include the Zhengzhou High-Tech Industrial Investment Fund, Zhejiang Innovation Investment, and Huarong, alongside other financial and industrial investors.
Founded in April 2020, Senior Auto builds autonomous systems for industrial logistics—covering ports, industrial parks and trunk lines—and operates three R&D centers in Beijing, Zhengzhou and Shanghai. In L4 closed scenarios, the company says it now cooperates with 20+ major ports and leads the market by share; customers cited include PetroChina, Ningbo Port, Qingdao Port, Xiamen Port, Sun Paper and Xinjiang Land Port.
New push into open roads. In 2025, Senior Auto formed scaled trunk-logistics convoys, deploying nearly 100 vehicles across Baotou (Inner Mongolia), Tianjin Dongjiang, and the Yongjin Expressway—a step up from fixed-route sites to L4 open scenarios, where traffic is more complex and uncertainty higher.
What’s next. Post-financing, founder-chair He Bei said priorities are: (1) upgrading the core driverless system, (2) speeding adaptation of custom and self-developed chassis, and (3) moving toward scaled production to improve growth and profitability.
Why it matters: China’s L4 commercialization took hold first in closed/semi-closed venues (ports, yards, mines) with fixed routes. Senior Auto’s expansion into higher-speed, open-road trunk logistics reflects the sector’s next growth vector as autonomous freight moves from structured hubs onto public highways.
