On January 26th, Baidu’s JIDU announced that it had completed A round of financing, raising nearly $400 million from its parent companies, Baidu and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

JIDU logo; photo credit: JIDU

The funds will help JIDU accelerate its R&D and mass production process. According to the company, its first-ever automotive robot Robocar) will be shown to the public at the Beijing Auto Show in April. The Robocar will be on the market in 2023. 

As a startup auto company, JIDU took great pride in its car-making progress. Officially established in March 2021, JIDU has received over $300 million of startup capital in March. In merely ten months later, the company received another round of investment, signifying the recognition of its product development and car-making speed.

Striving to be innovative, JIDU adopts an exclusive SIMUCar Software Integration Mule Car) development model, realizing highly efficient multithreading development. In nine months, JIDU facilitated a mass-producible L4 autonomous driving function that can work in urban and high-speed scenarios and tested its safety and reliability. 

Currently, JIDU’s self-developed electronic and electrical architecture, the JET1.0, SOA, autonomous driving system, core computing platform, and sensors are under iteration process towards mass production.

JIDU plans to reinforce its talent pool, recruiting and grooming more experts in the advanced autonomous driving, intelligent cockpit, and intelligent manufacturing fields. The company aims to ensure the safe delivery of its Robocar to the public on schedule in 2023, providing a quality and cost-effective user experience to the market.