Date: February 23, 2024. — Haomo.ai, a prominent Chinese autonomous driving startup backed by automaker Great Wall Motor, has secured $14 million (100 million yuan) in fresh capital to accelerate the development of its driverless technology. This funding marks the first tranche of their Series B round and comes amidst a period of cautious investment in the autonomous driving sector.
The investment was led by Chengdu Wufa Private Equity Fund Management, an investment arm backed by the Chengdu government. Haomo plans to allocate the funds to bolster its research and development endeavors across various vital domains. These include enhancing mass production processes to facilitate the widespread adoption of their self-driving solutions. They are also establishing a sturdy data infrastructure to bolster autonomous driving systems. Additionally, they are upgrading hardware capabilities to manage intricate algorithms efficiently.
Additionally, the investment will be utilized to harness big data for refining the accuracy and effectiveness of their self-driving systems. It will also be used to explore potential applications of their technology in areas beyond passenger cars, such as cleaning and security robots.
We are optimistic about the development of Haomo. We expect the company to consolidate its leading position in mass-produced autonomous driving solutions,” said Xie Yong, chairman of Chengdu Wuhou Capital Investment Group, one of the backers of Wufa.
Haomo’s CEO, Gu Weihao, further emphasized their commitment, stating, “We will continue to build our cutting-edge data intelligence system and enhance our R&D on the large model, computing power, and big data, explore applying autonomous driving in different scenarios, and help Wuhou establish itself as a demonstration zone for robotics in China.”
Wufa is a municipal government-funded investment group in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province. The Series B1 fundraising follows prior rounds of financing in which Haomo raised more than 1 billion yuan since its inception in 2019. Great Wall Motor is its biggest backer.
Haomo has focused on producing Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for passenger cars. The majority of sales go to its largest shareholder, Great Wall. It also provides Level 4 self-driving solutions for freight vehicles, with Meituan, Alibaba, and JD.com among its customers. Chengdu’s investment ties Haomo to an agreement to build robotics for Wuhou, the city’s center district. Local governments in China frequently strive to become national “demo zones” for cutting-edge technologies, with the assistance of private tech businesses. Wuhou will feature Haomo’s cleaning and security inspection robots as the district’s technological exhibit.
Haomo has driven over 120 million kilometers across more than 20 vehicle models. Its advanced ADAS solutions feature automatic braking and lane changing. Additionally, its self-driving delivery vans have transported nearly 300,000 grocery parcels for Beijing supermarkets. Competing in a field of Chinese AV startups like Pony.ai, WeRide, Momenta, and Deeproute. Haomo distinguishes itself by prioritizing practical applications over ambitious goals like robotaxis.
Many competitors initially aimed for L4 driving. The capital-intensive nature and slow adoption rates have led them to follow a path more aligned with Haomo’s strategy. Haomo benefits from its association with Great Wall, a major auto OEM. This partnership provides crucial revenue streams for expensive R&D endeavors. Furthermore, Haomo’s ADAS solutions supply three other OEMs, although a company spokesperson has not disclosed the specifics.
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