SF Express Takes Action Again: Unmanned Vehicle Company "White Rhino" Completes 200 Million Yuan Series B Financing | Exclusive from 36Kr

Text by | Li Anqi

Edited by | Li Qin

36Kr Auto has exclusively learned that the low-speed autonomous driving company White Rhino recently completed a Series B financing of 200 million yuan. This round was led by SF Express, with Xinyuan Automobile and existing shareholder Linear Capital following up.

It is reported that this round of financing will mainly be used for the development of new low-speed unmanned vehicle products and the market promotion of existing products.

White Rhino was founded in April 2019 by Zhu Lei and Xia Tian, former members of Baidu's autonomous driving team. It is an autonomous driving company dedicated to researching full-stack unmanned delivery solutions and providing regular operations of unmanned vehicles. In March this year, White Rhino officially announced that Huang Gang, the former general manager of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company, joined White Rhino as the president.

Low-speed autonomous driving is the earliest sub - track in the autonomous driving industry to start commercialization. Zhu Lei, the CEO of White Rhino, observed that in the past few years, the business scenarios involved by low-speed unmanned vehicle startups were relatively scattered, covering multiple different directions such as campus delivery, unmanned retail, and community group buying.

It wasn't until early 2024 that the business model gradually became clear. "The main implementation scenarios have been concentrated in the logistics industry, especially the journey from express delivery outlets to stations."

Zhu Lei told 36Kr Auto that in this specific field, the round - trip mileage of unmanned delivery vehicles corresponding to logistics orders ranges from approximately 10 to 30 kilometers.

Zhu Lei said that currently, 80% - 90% of unmanned deliveries in the industry are concentrated in this scenario, and this scenario will still be the main direction for the large - scale implementation of unmanned delivery vehicles in the next 1 - 2 years.

In this track, startups such as Jiushi and Neolithic are also actively making efforts, while large - scale scenario providers such as JD Logistics, Cainiao Logistics, and Meituan have natural advantages. The number of unmanned vehicles put into use by low - speed unmanned vehicle companies in this scenario has become one of the important indicators to measure the progress of commercialization.

However, in the view of White Rhino, the production and sales volume of unmanned vehicles cannot truly reflect the efficiency improvement brought by technology. In contrast, the daily active volume of unmanned vehicles, that is, the number of unmanned vehicles actually actively participating in deliveries every day, is a more crucial indicator.

"Unmanned delivery vehicles are essentially a productivity tool. If a vehicle only runs 2 trips a day, the value it generates is different from that of a vehicle that runs 10 trips stably every day. But if it wants to run 10 trips, it will involve the transformation of the existing process system. Unmanned vehicles need to be integrated into the existing logistics system, which is a gradual process."

Zhu Lei shared that starting from the second quarter of 2024, some express delivery outlets under the SF Express logistics system began to use White Rhino's unmanned vehicles. Currently, the scale of White Rhino's daily active unmanned vehicles in the SF Express logistics system has reached hundreds.

At present, there are various business models in the low - speed unmanned vehicle industry, including vehicle sales, subscription fees, and transportation capacity services. However, White Rhino believes that the truly stable and mature business model in the current unmanned freight delivery industry still needs time for further verification.

White Rhino's competitive advantage lies in establishing in - depth cooperation with express logistics companies and retail supermarkets such as SF Express, STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, Yunda Express, Yonghui Superstores, Dada Now, Hema Fresh, and Ele.me. This can bring enough business scenarios to continuously verify the feasibility of technology and products.

White Rhino's goal is to achieve a daily active volume of 5,000 unmanned delivery vehicles by 2026.

On the technical and product levels, White Rhino is also constantly evolving.

Currently, the main product of White Rhino's unmanned vehicles is the R5 series, with a cargo box volume of 5.5 cubic meters, capable of loading more than 500 packages, and a full - load endurance of more than 120 kilometers on a single charge.

Zhu Lei pointed out that the low - speed unmanned vehicle track actually benefits from the development dividend of passenger car assisted driving technology.

Currently, the implementation of low - speed unmanned vehicles requires the ability to drive safely on public roads at a speed of 30 - 40 kilometers per hour, which requires unmanned vehicles to have corresponding AI capabilities.

According to official information, White Rhino has integrated technologies such as large - scale models into the system training of unmanned vehicles. Even in scenarios such as rainy and foggy days and morning and evening rush hours in the city, White Rhino's products can complete high - difficulty tasks such as traffic light recognition and detouring around construction roads.

In addition, thanks to the large - scale outbreak of passenger car assisted driving, the supply chain of the autonomous driving industry has matured rapidly and reduced costs. "The product status and prices of vehicle - grade components such as lidar and computing power platforms have all developed well."

After Huang Gang, the former general manager of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company, joined White Rhino, he will be fully responsible for the large - scale mass production of White Rhino's unmanned delivery vehicles, including product planning, new vehicle development, production and delivery, supply chain management, and industrial cooperation.

"This will help White Rhino's unmanned vehicles truly meet the standards of vehicle - grade automotive products and welcome the large - scale outbreak of unmanned vehicles when the industry's commercial inflection point arrives."