WeRide

WeRide () is an international L4 autonomous driving technology company. Holding driverless test permits both in the U.S. and China,

WeRide has formed strategic partnerships with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers including Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, Yutong Group, GAC Group, Bosch, etc.

History

Established in Silicon Valley in 2017, WeRide now has expanded its R&D and operation centers to San Jose, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The Company was founded by Tony Han who was the former Chief Scientist of Baidu's Autonomous Driving Unit. The company has grown to over 1000 employees around the globe over the past 5 years.

In November 2020, WeRide announced that a total of 147,128 trips were completed for more than 60,000 passengers during its first year of Robotaxi service. Marking its one-year anniversary of Robotaxi operation, WeRide has partnered with Institute of Transportation Engineering, Tsinghua University, to conduct a Robotaxi passenger survey and publish China's First Robotaxi Passenger Survey Report.

In January 2021, WeRide unveiled world's 1^st purpose-built L4 Mini Robobus, announcing the launch of its regular testing and reservation-based services to the public.

In April 2021, WeRide obtained the fully driverless test permit from DMV, making it the first autonomous driving company to get the fully driverless test permit both in the US and China.

In September 2021, WeRide forayed into urban logistics industry and unveiled WeRide Robovan, the very first L4 self-driving cargo van.

In December 2021, WeRide completed autonomous taxi trial on Yas Island in UAE, by partnering with Bayanat. WeRide developed the full stack autonomous driving software and hardware solutions as well as operating and monitoring systems for the TAXI app.

In May 2022, WeRide received strategic investment from Bosch and both parties will jointly develop ADAS solution. This cooperation will accelerate the process of developing Bosch China's advanced driving solution, moving SAE Level 2-3 AD towards mass production.

In September 2022, WeRide collaborated with the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) to launch of the first dynamic display route of the driverless robobus (WeRide Mini Robobus) at the 2022 Global AI Summit held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. This is the first fully driverless test ride of robobus in the Middle East country.

Financing

In September 2017, WeRide completed a $52 million Pre-A round led by Qiming Venture Partners, Sinovation Ventures, NVIDIA and others.

In October 2018, WeRide Closed its Series A funding round, with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance as the lead investor.

In January 2021, WeRide raised $310 million in Series B round after completing Series B2 and B3. It raised $200 million from Yutong Group, the strategic lead investor on the deal. Qiming Venture Partners, Sinovation Ventures and Kinzon Capital, who were involved in the previous rounds, also participated in the funding.

In May 2021, WeRide closed another $310 million Series C round at a $3.3 billion valuation. This funding round was invested by IDG Capital, Hechuang Investment, CoStone Capital, Cypress Star, Sky9 Capital, and K3 Ventures. Some institutes involved in WeRide's previous funding rounds, such as CMC Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and AlpView Capital are also among the investors list.

In December 2021, WeRide received strategic investment from GAC Group. This investment will further the joint development and manufacturing of a fleet of purpose-built Robotaxis.

In January 2022, WeRide completed series D funding round, jointly led by a China-UAE joint sovereign fund, Asia Investment Capital, Bosch, GAC Group, and Carlyle Investment Group, boosting the company's valuation to US$4.4 billion.

References

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Self-driving car companies
Technology companies established in 2017
Transport companies established in 2017
American companies established in 2017
2017 establishments in California
Companies based in Guangzhou