DeepWay closes $310M pre-IPO round as global funds back autonomous truck push

What's the deal? DeepWay, the Hefei-based developer of autonomous electric heavy-duty trucks backed by Baidu, has closed the second tranche of its pre-IPO financing, bringing the total raised in this phase to $310M. The round was led by UAE-based Stone CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with participation from Australian superannuation fund NGS SuperDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Xiamen Guosheng Fund. Existing investors ABC ImpactDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (Temasek-backed) and Nanjing Ronghe CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also increased their stakes.

The deal is one of the largest single funding rounds in China's autonomous heavy-duty truck sector in the past five years. DeepWay filed for a Hong Kong IPO in November 2025 under the Chapter 18C regime for specialist technology companies.

Founded in 2020 as a joint venture between Baidu and Lionbridge GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, DeepWay has delivered roughly 6,400 intelligent electric trucks. H1 2025 revenue reached CNY 1.5B (~$200M), though the company remains loss-making.

Why now? DeepWay needs a war chest before its Hong Kong listing. The funds will go toward autonomous driving R&D and overseas commercialisation — the company has already launched operations in Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Kazakhstan.

The three overseas investors are strategic, not just financial. Stone Capital brings Middle Eastern market access, NGS Super opens doors to Australia and New Zealand, and ABC Impact covers Southeast Asia. For a Chinese autonomous truck company eyeing global expansion, this investor lineup doubles as a distribution network.

What could go wrong? DeepWay is burning cash. It posted a net loss of CNY 675M ($97M) in 2024 and CNY 371M ($53M) in H1 2025 alone. The Chapter 18C listing route exists precisely because the company cannot meet standard financial eligibility tests — profitability is still some way off.

Autonomous trucking regulation varies wildly across markets, and exporting Chinese autonomous vehicle technology into the Middle East and Southeast Asia carries geopolitical and certification risks that domestic operations do not.

The signal: Chinese autonomous trucking is having its moment. In 2026 alone, Carl Power Technology closed a $100M+ Series B, Zeron raised CNY 1.2B, and now DeepWay has pulled in $310M pre-IPO. The thesis is converging: L4 platooning — one human driver leading a convoy of autonomous trucks — is the most bankable path to commercialisation.

DeepWay's approach of designing vehicles from scratch for electric and autonomous use, rather than retrofitting diesel platforms, mirrors the logic that made TeslaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s clean-sheet EV design disruptive. Whether that advantage holds as incumbents catch up remains the central question.

Sources:
The Next Web
36Kr
FinSMEs
CnEVPost

Image credit:
DeepWay

J.V.