SAN DIEGO, Sept. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TuSimple, a
global autonomous driving company, announced today that it has
secured commitments for an additional $120
million in Series D funding. These funds are part of an
extended Series D round that was oversubscribed and reached a total
of $215 million. The round includes
previously announced investor UPS, the global logistics
leader. New participants in the round include CDH Investments
and leading automotive tier-1 supplier Mando Corporation.
The Series D round was led by SINA, (NASDAQ: SINA), a leading
technology company known for Weibo, one of the world's most popular
social media platforms.
TuSimple previously achieved unicorn status with a valuation of
$1 billion, and the new investment
brings TuSimple's total funding to $298
million to date. The new funds will be used to expand
long haul service for fleets and co-develop a commercial
self-driving truck with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
"TuSimple continues to impress the automotive and investor
community with its progress towards creating the world's first
commercial self-driving truck solution," said Jae Chung, CFO, Mando. "TuSimple's technology is
at a pivotal point for maturity and it has huge market potential,
which is why we wanted to deepen our relationship with TuSimple and
become a strategic investor."
TuSimple is moving quickly to bring commercial self-driving
trucks to market. The company has grown rapidly to over 500
employees worldwide and is executing daily runs in Arizona for its customers. At the same time,
TuSimple is working on the validation of its self-driving truck
solution with logistics leaders UPS, the USPS and others.
"It's highly gratifying to see such strong interest in TuSimple
from investors and industry leaders alike, and we are grateful for
the support of our committed investors," said Cheng Lu, Chief
Financial Officer, TuSimple. "With over 50 trucks on the road
worldwide and more than 18 contracted customers, we are excited
about the momentum the company has achieved in four short
years."
UPS' investment is a vote of confidence in TuSimple's industry
leadership position, its technology and autonomous trucks in
general. It also marks a first-of-its-kind strategic investment
from a shipper into self-driving trucks. Currently UPS and TuSimple
conduct daily testing between Phoenix and Tucson. Working side-by-side with a global
logistics giant is critical for TuSimple to further develop and
scale its technology. The real-world experience gives TuSimple
strict customer requirements to ensure their solution meets UPS's
best-in-class customer service expectations.
TuSimple is aiming to transform the $800
billion U.S. trucking industry by increasing safety,
lowering costs, reducing carbon emissions and providing tools to
optimize fleet logistics for operators.
About TuSimple
TuSimple is a global autonomous truck company, headquartered in
San Diego and operating
self-driving trucks out of Tucson,
Arizona. Founded in 2015, TuSimple is developing a
commercial-ready Level 4 (SAE) fully autonomous driving solution
for the logistics industry. TuSimple is the only self-driving truck
company capable of driving from depot-to-depot without human
intervention and do so every day for its customers. The company is
driven by a mission to increase safety, decrease transportation
costs, and reduce carbon emissions. For more information, please
visit www.tusimple.ai, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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SOURCE TuSimple