Autonomous driving startup Haomo finishes latest financing round

Beijing-based autonomous driving startup Haomo.AI said on Monday that it has scored "hundreds of millions of yuan" in its Series A plus financing round, led by Bank of China Group Investment Limited and participated by existing investor Shoucheng Holdings Limited.

Haomo said it will spend the fresh funds on research and development as well as human resources.

This round comes less than four months after the company closed its nearly 1 billion yuan ($157 million) Series A round in December 2021. Haomo said it has started its Series B financing round.

"We expect the company, guided by its windmill strategy, to realize a virtuous circle of data, technology and products, through mass production and shipment, as well as the establishment of its data intelligence system." said Liu Jian, chairman of Bank of China Group Investment Limited, the investment arm of State-owned financial conglomerate Bank of China.

Gu Weihao, CEO of Haomo, said the company expects to roll out the urban road version of its Level 2 system, called the Navigation on HPilot, by mid-2022 and the all-scenario version in the second half this year.

Currently, the NOH system assists passenger vehicle drivers mainly on highways, with features such as automated steering, acceleration, and braking. By now, the system has been available on six car models produced by Great Wall Motor.

Gu said that Haomo has planned to launch a self-driving fleet in 2023.

In addition to the Level 2 system, Haomo also produces low-speed unmanned Level 4 autonomous driving logistics vehicles.

Since April 6, such logistics vehicles, have started to deliver groceries ordered on Meituan's platform to residents in Xuhui district, Shanghai, which is undergoing a citywide lockdown as of April 1 to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.