BEIJING -- Haomo.AI raised more than RMB 100 million in Series B1 round from Chengdu Wufa Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd. in the first such deal in the autonomous driving sector after China’s Lunar New Year holiday, to enhance R&D and support Wuhou district of Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, to develop robotics.

“As a central district of Chengdu, Wuhou not only has a long history, but also leads in economic development. Wuhou has attracted investment and talents, contributing to the fast development of Chengdu and nearby Chongqing municipality,” said Xie Yong, chairman of Chengdu Wuhou Capital Investment Group Co., Ltd., a backer of Wufa.

“We are optimistic about the development of Haomo and expect the company to consolidate its leading position in mass-produced autonomous driving solutions,” Xie added.

“The year 2024 will witness the intelligent driving sector taking off. As a key player, Haomo will introduce products with greatest value for money to more clients to scale up,” said Zhang Kai, chairman of Haomo.

“We appreciate Wuhou leaders’ recognition and support. Haomo will continue to strengthen the autonomous driving industry chain and accelerate the commercialization of the autonomous driving technologies,” Zhang added.

“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,” said Gu Weihao, CEO of Haomo. The company has announced new job openings at a time when many others are downsizing worldwide.

“We will explore applying autonomous driving in different scenarios such as cleaning and security inspection and help Wuhou establish itself as a demonstration zone for robotics in China,” Gu added.

By now, HPilot, Haomo’s advanced driver assistance system, is equipped in more than 20 vehicle models, helping drivers cover a combined distance of over 120 million kilometers with functions such as automatic braking and lane-changing. The company expects the penetration rate of ADAS on passenger vehicles to reach 70% in China by 2025.

In addition, a fleet of Haomo’s Level 4 autonomous vans have delivered nearly 300,000 grocery parcels for supermarkets in Beijing.