Autonomous Trucking Startup Plus Secures $200 Million for Global Expansion
Plus raises $200 million in a Series B round to commercialize its self-driving truck platform across the U.S., China, and Europe. The funding arrives as pandemic-driven delivery demands accelerate interest in contactless freight solutions.
Autonomous trucking startup Plus raises $200 million in a Series B funding round led by Guotai Junan, Hedosophia, and Wanxiang. The company plans to use this capital to accelerate the commercialization and mass production of its automated trucking platform. Along with building a dedicated sales and support network, Plus intends to scale its current operations in the U.S. and China while expanding into Europe and additional parts of Asia.
The new funding arrives as the global pandemic accelerates the need for contactless delivery solutions in the freight industry. Self-driving trucks offer a way to minimize human contact and reduce disease transmission during transit. This need is especially urgent in the short-haul freight sector, which sees a massive spike in volume and a 20.4% price increase as e-commerce demands surge during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Founded in 2016, Plus equips semitrucks with a 360-degree perception system that combines radar, lidar, and cameras. The platform utilizes multiple artificial intelligence models to detect objects, predict the behavior of surrounding vehicles, and ensure safe transitions between driving modes. To handle diverse weather conditions like rain, snow, and fog, the company trains its AI using a massive dataset collected across 14 U.S. states and 7 Chinese provinces, enhanced by generative adversarial networks to prevent bias.