(Yicai) Sept. 16 -- Zaofu Intelligent Technology, the robotaxi arm of Chinese mobility service provider Hello, has raised about USD100 million in a new financing round to build a 10,000-graphics processing unit computing cluster and strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities.

The round was led by Shanghai SSCI Leading Private Equity Fund Management, a unit of Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment, with Minhang Financial Investment and China Creation Ventures participating, Shanghai-based Zaofu announced today. Its post-money valuation is close to USD3 billion.

The proceeds will mainly be used to deploy a 10,000-GPU computing cluster, advance end-to-end AI models, and build a high-quality data supply chain, Zaofu noted.

Zaofu was established in June last year by Hello in collaboration with fintech giant Ant Group and power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology. It received a strategic investment from Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding last September.

The latest financing will support Zaofu as it moves toward large-scale commercialization of its Level 4 autonomous-driving technology, which enables vehicles to drive without human intervention under specified conditions. The company aims to deploy more than 50,000 robotaxis by next year.

Zaofu’s first mass-produced L4 robotaxi model, HR1 (Hello Robot1), went into mass production in July, with more than 100 units rolling off the production line, the company disclosed today.

China has called for the large-scale adoption of autonomous vehicles during its 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). According to Zaofu, this signals that the robotaxi industry is moving beyond small-scale pilot programs toward large-scale commercial deployment, which could reshape the intelligent vehicle and mobility service industries.

Zaofu has obtained robotaxi testing qualifications in Guangzhou, a first-tier city in southern China, and Changzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, and is actively expanding into more key cities, including Hong Kong.

Founded in 2016 as a bike-sharing company, Hello has since expanded into a mobility services platform offering ride-sharing, car rental, and battery swapping. The company has more than 800 million registered users, according to its website.

Editor: Emmi Laine