Econtrol Intelligent Driving completed a Series D financing round of over 400 million yuan, led by Puquan Capital and CATL.

On June 24, Yikong Zhijia Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yikong Zhijia"), a leading enterprise in the field of unmanned mining, announced the completion of over 400 million yuan in Series D financing. This round of financing was led by CATL through its sole industrial investment platform, Puquan Capital (CATL Captial), and its own funds. Strategic industrial partners and investment institutions such as Fangguang Capital, Xingqi Fund under Falcon Investment, Zhongji Holdings, Tongli Co., Ltd., and Huace Navigation jointly invested. The funds will be mainly used for the R & D of unmanned products, market expansion, and the international layout of overseas markets such as Australia. The support of multiple industrial partners represented by CATL marks the in - depth recognition of the commercialization process of unmanned mining by the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and the capital market.

Leading with Nearly Half of the Market Share, Defining the Landscape of the Unmanned Mining Track

As a national "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in niche markets, since its establishment in 2018, Yikong Zhijia has centered on the unmanned driving technology integrating "vehicle - energy - road - cloud" to build an intelligent solution covering all scenarios of mining transportation. The company's headquarters is located in Shanghang, Fujian, and it has set up three R & D bases in Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhengzhou. It has also deployed a local service network in China and Australia, forming a full - chain service system including intelligent driving R & D, software - hardware integrated solutions, technology delivery, training, and maintenance.

As of now, Yikong Zhijia has deployed approximately 1,500 unmanned mining trucks. With a domestic market share of nearly 50%, five large - scale projects with over 100 unmanned vehicles in a single mine, and the deployment of unmanned mining trucks in more than 20 mines, it has become the leading enterprise in the industry by a large margin, verifying the commercial feasibility of the "technology + service + equipment" trinity model. Its unmanned driving solutions have been applied on a large scale in the mines of industry leaders such as China National Energy Group, State Power Investment Corporation, Zijin Mining, TBEA, Baowu Group, and Shougang Group. According to Yikong Zhijia, the retention rate of group customers is 100%, making it the first enterprise in the industry to complete large - scale commercial verification in multiple types of mines such as coal mines, metal mines, and limestone mines.

Large - scale application scenarios of unmanned mining trucks

Notably, the company has extended its business to metal mines and overseas markets. It has achieved normal operation of unmanned driving in mines at an altitude of 5,000 meters such as the Tibet Julong Copper Mine and has reached cooperation with international mining engineering companies such as Thiess Group in Australia. It is accelerating the implementation of its first overseas unmanned driving benchmark project. As a leading enterprise in the field of unmanned mining in the Australian market in China, its technical solutions have started adaptation and verification in local mines, gradually building competitiveness in the overseas market.

Deep Collaboration, Joining Hands with Industrial Partners to Reshape the Intelligent Mining Ecosystem

The joint investment of strategic industrial partners such as CATL, Tongli Co., Ltd., and Huace Navigation has built a more three - dimensional industrial collaboration network. Tongli Co., Ltd. has been deeply involved in the field of non - highway wide - body dump trucks for many years and has continuously made breakthroughs in the adaptation of new - energy transportation equipment to unmanned driving scenarios. Its products and Yikong Zhijia's technical solutions form a deep complementarity of "whole vehicle + unmanned driving"; Huace Navigation, with its core advantage of high - precision navigation and positioning technology, provides accurate positioning and safety guarantees for unmanned vehicles. The cooperation of multiple parties is not only a linkage at the capital level but also a deep collaboration in dimensions such as technology R & D, scenario application, and ecological co - construction, which will promote the upgrading of mining transportation equipment from single - device intelligence to full - scenario solutions, reshaping industry technical standards and industrial ecosystems.

"This round of financing is an important recognition by the capital market of Yikong Zhijia's ability to commercialize technology products," said Zhang Lei, co - founder and chairman of Yikong Zhijia. "The funds will be mainly invested in three directions: First, to promote the continuous iteration of software and hardware products and develop the next - generation unmanned driving system suitable for extreme working conditions and with higher production efficiency; second, to promote the adaptation of Yikong's unmanned driving and wire - control capabilities to more pre - installed mass - produced mining truck models, accelerate the expansion of scenarios such as metal mines and overseas mines, and improve the scenario generalization ability of products; third, to accelerate the implementation of overseas business and achieve the deep integration of unmanned driving technology with local mining processes."

Pure - electric unmanned mining trucks operating in a metal mine

With the accelerating global trend of intelligent mining, Yikong Zhijia, with its technological leadership and commercial implementation ability, is becoming a typical example of AI technology empowering the transformation of traditional industries. This Series D financing not only injects impetus into its international journey but also marks that the unmanned mining industry has entered the "scale expansion period" from the "technology verification period". Industry analysts point out that driven by both policy promotion (the replacement rate of dangerous positions in coal mines should be no less than 30% by 2026) and market demand, Yikong Zhijia is expected to further consolidate its leading position based on its nearly half of the market share and lead the global mining transportation to evolve towards intelligence and low - carbonization at an accelerated pace.