Chinese language e-commerce big Alibaba Group and 4 home enterprise capital corporations have collectively invested greater than $300 million in DeepRoute, an autonomous driving know-how developer primarily based within the southern Chinese language metropolis of Shenzhen.

DeepRoute mentioned this week it would faucet the funding to broaden its staff, ramp up R&D, and scale up collaboration with automakers and fleets.

The corporate did not disclose the dimensions of Alibaba’s funding. The 4 enterprise capital corporations are Jeneration Capital, Fosun RZ Capital, Yunqi Companions and Glory Ventures.

Established in 2019, DeepRoute goals to develop Degree 4 autonomous driving robotaxis and medium-duty vans for freight supply in city areas. 

The startup has launched trial robotaxis in three home cities – Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hangzhou. 

The robotaxis had been tailored from automobiles bought by DeepRoute itself in addition to automobiles equipped by home automakers resembling Dongfeng Motor Group and Geely Car Holdings.

In June, DeepRoute obtained a allow from the California Public Utilities Fee to check its robotaxis regionally.

DeepRoute is the second autonomous driving know-how firm that has gained the monetary backing of Alibaba, following AutoX.

AutoX, included in Shenzhen in 2016, now exams its robotaxis in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, in addition to California’s Silicon Valley.