#WeRide Moments#WeRide Obtained Strategic Investment from Top-tier Global Automaker Alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi in 2018
In October 2018, Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, has become the lead strategic investor of WeRide, following completion of the company’s Series A funding.
The investment in WeRide is the first investment in China and part of the Alliance Ventures strategy to support entrepreneurs and start-ups at the cutting edge of next-generation automotive technology.
As a result of the Alliance Ventures support, WeRide becomes the first Chinese start-up specializing in L4 autonomous driving to receive investment from and form strategic partnership with a global automotive group.
François Dossa, Alliance Global Vice President, Ventures and Open innovation, said: “Autonomous systems is a key priority of the Alliance as we develop new mobility services. Our member companies are committed to introducing such technologies in key markets such as China, so we are delighted to be supporting WeRide as it pioneers such full autonomous systems for the demanding Chinese market-place.”
In March 2019, WeRide displayed its L4 autonomous vehicle model, the Nissan LEAF 2, at GTC 2019. “The pre-commercial L4 solutions that we are debuting at GTC are paving the way for WeRide’s rollout of robotaxi services in China in the future,” said Tony Han, CEO and co-founder of WeRide. “Our demonstration of the Nissan LEAF 2 is a significant step forward in showing that WeRide can help bring reliable, safe autonomous vehicles to market. Currently WeRide is establishing partnerships with OEMs in China and around the world.”
The new sensor suite is combined with WeRide’s latest hardware and software solutions and is designed to increase accuracy and safety:
- All wavelength detection on roof rack covers full 360-degree FoV (Field of View). The multiple wavelength cross-verified sensor design makes the detection more reliable.
- The performance of LiDAR sensors has been significantly improved with up to 250 meters detection range facing front and extra coverage on both sides.
- A front nose LiDAR for early detection has been designed to adapt to road and traffic conditions in China.
- Data volume collected from all sensors is increased significantly, with real-time synchronization leveraging the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Pegasus platform.
WeRide employs a highly skilled technology team of more than 300 employees globally, 70% of whom are R&D engineers. Its core management team all has extensive domestic and international experience in technology development and business operations in both China and the USA at companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Baidu, DiDi, Cisco, and others.
WeRide has been focusing on the strategic alliance among AI technology companies, car makers and mobility service platforms. WeRide RoboTaxi, a joint venture company of WeRide, Baiyun Taxi and SCI (Guangzhou) Group, has launched a robotaxi program in Guangzhou, China. The operation covers 144.65 square kilometers in the Huangpu and Guangzhou Development District, providing the locals with robotaxi services on their daily commute. It’s the first robotaxi service open to the public in China.
Established in 2017, WeRide is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, and maintains R&D and operation centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Anqing, as well as Silicon Valley in the USA.
