CalmCar, a Chinese startup that specialises in developing vision systems for intelligent driving vehicles, has raised 500 million yuan ($69.7 million) in a Series D funding round.
Investors in the deal include state-backed industry investment funds in China and several technology groups, said the startup, without specifying their identities. Existing shareholders doubled down on their investments through the Series D round.
“The new deal allowed CalmCar to rope in investors with upstream industry resources and state background to successfully build an ecosystem integrating hardware, large [deep learning] models, Internet of Vehicles (IoV) technologies, 5G partners, world-leading Tier 1 auto supply chain and automaking capabilities, as well as support from local governments in China to boost the commercialisation of autonomous driving,” said CalmCar in its latest WeChat post.
The Series D round helped the startup further diversify its existing investor pool that includes German auto parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG, the lead investors of its $150-million Series C round closed in July 2021.
Chinese state-owned automakers SAIC Motor Corp and Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group); traffic information solutions provider China TransInfo Technology; and China Unicom, a state-owned telecom operator, are also among CalmCar’s shareholders.
CalmCar, founded in 2016, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to develop vision-based vehicle sensing solutions for autonomous driving and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)—a suite of technologies designed to enhance vehicle safety and driver convenience by automating tasks like parking, lane changes, and collision avoidance.
Headquartered in Tianjin City in northern China, the startup employs more than 200 people globally, with R&D facilities in Tianjin, Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Detroit, the US.
“As a promotor of intelligent driving, CalmCar remains committed to the R&D and large-scale application of mid-to-high-end intelligent driving and Level 4 autonomous driving technologies,” CalmCar’s CEO Wang Xi.
“Moving forward, we will continue optimising our intelligent driving solutions for commercialisation across a wide range of complex, ‘long-tail’ scenarios to power passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and shared rides,” said Wang.
While the startup plans to invest further in product R&D and mass production, the new financing will also see CalmCar enhance its intelligent driving solutions to power robotaxi and robobus services for urban transportation needs.
Wang said the startup is still in discussions with multiple industry partners about its plan to rope in more strategic investors.
