(Yicai Global) Sept. 14 -- Chinese autonomous driving firm DeepRoute has secured USD300 million in Series B financing led by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding which will go towards bringing its RoboTaxi and RoboVan to market.

Other participants include Jeneration Capital and Fosun RZ Capital, Shenzhen-based DeepRoute said today.

The proceeds will mainly be used for research and development, expanding the team and scaling up the firm’s fleet of unmanned cars, Chief Executive Officer Zhou Guang said.

DeepRoute has started trial operations of a RoboTaxi in Shenzhen and is also testing the service in the cities of Wuhan and Hangzhou. So far its driverless taxis have driven two million kilometers, it said. It expects to have over 150 units by the end of the year.

The company is also developing an unmanned light-duty truck for urban logistics, such as grocery and parcel deliveries, it added.

DeepRoute, which runs R&D centers in Shenzhen and Beijing, is collaborating with carmaker Dongfeng Motor and online car-hailing platform Caocao Chuxing on various projects.

Editor: Kim Taylor