Neolix Technologies, a Chinese autonomous vehicle startup for the logistics industry, has announced raising an undisclosed amount in its Series B funding round co-led by SoftBank Ventures Asia and CICC Capital.
Existing shareholders Yunqi Capital and Glory Ventures also participated in the funding round that will finance the enhancement of Neolix’s range of services as well as the expansion of its vehicle network.
Beijing-based Neolix offers L4 autonomous driving vehicles — defined as vehicles that can perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip — to serve as mobile convenience stores, or intelligent vehicles for parcel delivery and 24-hour security monitoring.
Created in December 2018, Neolix said it has delivered and deployed nearly 1,000 autonomous vehicles in nine countries and over 30 cities worldwide, with a cumulative safe driving mileage of more than 1.3 million kilometres.
The company also achieved one million cumulative delivery orders by over 300,000 users. Additionally, Neolix will establish the world’s first autonomous vehicle network with over one thousand vehicles by the end of 2021.
The startup currently has established partnerships with hundreds of food and beverage retail brands, including with global names such as Pizza Hut and KFC. The company has also normalised autonomous vehicle operations for the public in more than ten cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen.
The company raised almost 100 million yuan ($14 million) in a Series A round from Yunqi Partners and Glory Ventures in the first quarter of 2019, shows the company’s website.
Neolix’s fundraising comes as dealmaking in China bounces back in June. According to DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE’s report, investors poured a total of over $6.2 billion across 154 deals in Greater China in June, up 22.8% in value over the month before.
Companies offering automobiles, auto parts, and related services grabbed the most funding in June at over $1.2 billion. Noticeably, seven of the nine deals in the field were made into self-driving companies.