Autonomous vehicle companies secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding deals in 2022, but self-driving passenger cars were not at the top end of the deals.
The major deals were made in robo-taxis, autonomous trucks and factory vehicles to alleviate persistent supply chain issues. Radar and sensing technology were also toward the top of the list along with some new development for autonomous aircraft.
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The future of self-driving vehicles is a very current discussion, so we took a closer look at the industry’s biggest deals over the last year.
Inceptio Technology secures $188m in Series B+ venture funding
Sequoia Capital China and Legend Capital provided the most illustrious individual deal in the autonomous vehicle industry in 2022 when it topped ups Inceptio Technology’s coffers with a cool $188m Series B+ round.
The Chinese startup develops self-driving trucks. Inceptio Technology announced the deal in February 2022.
In June, Inceptio partnered with Ambarella, an AI semiconductor company, to deliver Level 3 automated driving – with Level 0 having no automation and Level 5 being fully autonomous.
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By GlobalDataWith this funding, Inceptio will continue to develop its self-driving system Xuanyuan.
Volocopter secured $182m in second signing of Series E round
The future of autonomous vehicles extends beyond ground travel. Air transport Volocopter is one of the companies innovating in the urban air mobility space. It cemented its spot in the industry by securing two funding rounds that made it to this list.
Volocopter secured the second and bigger round in November 2022. That was when it announced the second signing of its Series E funding round.
Saudi Arabian investor NEOM and Hong Kong-based GLY Capital Management backed the raise.
“Attracting NEOM And GLy as investors is a great success and highlights our pole position in the commercial certification race,” Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke said at the time. “This is the key requirement to launching commercial operations and starting to generate revenue.”
Volocopter bagged $170m in first signing of Series E round
Volocopter secured the first signing of its Series E round in March 2022. That round was worth $170m. South Korean investor WO Investment led the round, which propelled the German air-traffic startup’s valuation to $1.7bn.
“We are confident that Volocopter will be among the first to bring UAM to cities globally, since seeing its aircraft fly in Seoul last yeae,” Lei Wang, chairman of WP Investment, said at the time. “As a leader in ESG investment, we are excited to empower city sustainability through Volocopter.”
Nanjing Core Semiconductor Technology raises $139.32m in Series B+ funding
Nanjing Core Semiconductor Technology secured $139.32m in a Series B+ round in 2022. The China-based company specialises in intelligent driving chips for cars and already serves over 260 customers, according to Techloy.
Several different companies contributed to this financing such as SAIC Goldstone Innovation Industry Fund and Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development.
Nanjing Core Semiconductor Technology claimed it will use the money “to improve the core technology of Xinchi, iteratively update the chip products of car specifications, strengthen the large-scale mass production and service capabilities, and accelerate the wider application of Xinqi products.”
Superpedestrian secures $125m in venture funding
E-scooter company Superpedestrian bagged a $125m funding round in a 2022 deal. Sony Innovation Fund led the investment alongside a handful of other companies.
Superpedestrian has only been operating e-scooter fleets for a few years but were singled out by Fast Company as “Most Innovative” last year.
In 2021, Superpedestrian acquired Navmatic, an immensely precise GPS startup. Superpedestrian could begin rolling out Pedestrian Defense on some of its scooters, the new system uses the precise GPS to stop users from riding scooters unsafely or on the sidewalk, for example.
Leddartech receives $116m in Series D funding
Leddartech raised a $116m Series D funding round in February 2022, making it one of the biggest deals in the autonomous vehicle space last year.
FS Investors led the round with several other Canadian companies contributing. Leddartech incorporates its sensory technology for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving.
“The success of this round is a testament to the growth and industry recognition LeddarTech has achieved,” said Charles Boulanger, CEO of LeddarTech, at the time. “I am delighted to welcome FS Investors as our most recent investors, who bring vast experience and expertise in the deep tech sector.
“I was impressed by the quality and thoroughness of their due diligence and their exceptional understanding of the ADAS and AD market, which confirms the value of our unique software solution.”
The funding will help to expand the company to meet the demands from original equipment manufacturers.
May Mobility secures $111m in Series C funding
May Mobility secured two separate fundings in 2022, both of which made the list. It secured its second and biggest funding round in July last year. It raised $111m in a Series C round that month.
“With the close of this latest investment round, May Mobility will continue to accelerate growth in our technology, business development and platforms, all with a global reach,” said Edwin Olson, CEO of May Mobility.
“Our additional investors, as well as our continued strategic collaboration with Toyota and others, will enable us to march toward driver-out commercial operations in 2023 and enable our expansion into new markets as we roll out more Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS vehicles now and look to next generation platforms, such as the e-Palette.”
May Mobility bags $83m in January deal
May Mobility made the list twice. The autonomous vehicle firm bagged $83m in January in a financing roundled by Mirai Creation Fund II.
“With this initial Series C funding, our latest group of global strategic investment partners will enable us to rapidly deploy our technology on Toyota’s autonomous-ready platforms, including the Sienna Autono-MaaS,” Olson said at the time.
Chinese robotics company VisionNav secures $75.64m in Series C+ financing
VisionNav, the company based in China which specialises in autonomous full-stack vehicles and forklifts, received CNY 500m (75.64m) in April last year. That was one of the biggest deals in the autonomous vehicle industry in 2022.
Meituan and 5Y Capital co-led the raise. VisionNav said it would use the capital to invest in R&D and growing the company. This round of funding valued VisionNav at over $500m, according to TechCrunch.
The Shenzhen-based company will continue to develop its 5G and AI technology and expand on their autonomous logistics solutions.
Vecna Robotics raises $65m in funding led by Tiger Global Management
Vecna Robotics, a US-based autonomous forklift provider, secured $65m in Series C funding round in January last year. Vecna Robotics plan to use the capital to solve the supply chain issues by incorporating self-driving operational vehicles to undertake pallet-moving jobs.
The funding itself will go towards fulfilling new orders while further developing the technology behind Vecna Robotics’ autonomous mobile robots.
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