Plus, formerly known as Plus.ai, which works in automated trucking, is done with a $200 million funding round, according to a press release.
The round was led by Guotai Junan International, CPE and Wanxiang International Investment, the release stated. Existing investor Full Truck Alliance (FTA) also participated.
Plus will use the money to boost its global commercialization and deployment of its automated trucking system, with the company looking to begin mass production this year, according to the release.
Plus is also looking to begin its sales and support network simultaneously, the release stated, to help fleets integrate the system within their daily operations. In addition, Plus is planning to scale deployments in the U.S. and China, along with international expansions to Europe and other parts of Asia.
The company will also grow its engineering team to help develop its automation, the release stated.
“Trucking accidents and growing truck driver shortage affect our economy and daily lives,” Plus Co-Founder and CEO David Liu said in the release. “All of us at Plus are inspired every day to develop automated trucks that are going to make our world safer and greener, and help fleets drive more fuel efficiently and reduce operating costs. The additional funding and continued support of our investors will help us further scale our commercialization efforts, enabling us to serve fleets in more countries.”
In related news, Ellen Kugelberg, chief operating officer at Einride, told PYMNTS in October that some of the best opportunities trucking companies have are in the digitization field, as autonomous vehicles can do better than traditional ones to perform tasks like capturing and transmitting data.
Kugelberg said the low-level digitization on many trucks finds many of them half-full and some carrying no goods. With more data, there would be better opportunities for enhanced location and timing, which would help with improved efficiency for better loading and unloading.
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