Chinabased Inceptio 270m Series Jd Logistics – China-based Inceptio, which is developing autonomous trucks, raises $270M Series B led by JD Logistics, Meituan, and PE firm PAG. The company brings total raised to $490M. It has partnered with 3 major companies to date: Meituan Dacheng (Shenzhen), JD Logistics (Shanghai) and PAG Industrial Group (Beijing).
Inceptio is building a driverless truck that will be designed specially for long-haul freight. The goal is to help companies reduce labor costs and utilize their trucks more efficiently.
Trucks likely to see automation first because of high driver turnover rate, excess capacity, and high operating expenses; Inceptio says its technology can reduce those numbers by up to 60% and save companies ~$1M over 2 years per vehicle.
Inceptio has a team of several dozen engineers and a near-end-to-end strength in machine learning and autonomy, which is critical for designing practical self-driving systems. Earlier this year, the company launched the second generation of its technology platform. Its truck drives autonomously up to ~70% of the time, depending on driving conditions and roadways. It includes a computer vision-based lane marker detection system, as well as high-precision maps and a localization solution.
The company has already secured the necessary permits to test its truck in six regions in China, including Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and the cities of Beijing and Tianjin. It is planning to begin road tests next year.
JD Logistics has committed to buying 20,000 trucks from Inceptio. JD’s parent company, Tencent, was an earlier investor in Inceptio, which is based in China’s Zhejiang province.n Dacheng (Shenzhen), JD Logistics (Shanghai) and PAG Industrial Group (Beijing). Inceptio is building a driverless truck that will be designed specially for long-haul freight. The goal is to help companies reduce labor costs and utilize their trucks more efficiently.
Trucks likely to see automation first because of high driver turnover rate, excess capacity, and high operating expenses; Inceptio says its technology can reduce those numbers by up to 60% and save companies ~$1M over 2 years per vehicle. Inceptio has a team of several dozen engineers and a near-end-to-end strength in machine learning and autonomy, which is critical for designing practical self-driving systems. Earlier this year, the company launched the second generation of its technology platform. Its truck drives autonomously up to ~70% of the time, depending on driving conditions and roadways. It includes a computer vision-based lane marker detection system, as well as high-precision maps and a localization solution.
The company has already secured the necessary permits to test its truck in six regions in China, including Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and the cities of Beijing and Tianjin. It is planning to begin road tests next year.
JD Logistics has committed to buying 20,000 trucks from Inceptio. JD’s parent company, Tencent, was an earlier investor in Inceptio, which is based in China’s Zhejiang province.