Behind Didi's 2 billion yuan financing for self-driving: The "mass production narrative" has spawned 116 industry investments.

The autonomous driving industry is undergoing changes.

Since September, there have been frequent mergers, acquisitions, and significant investments in the industry. FAW acquired Zhuoyu Technology, an autonomous driving company affiliated with DJI; Mercedes-Benz invested 1.339 billion yuan in Qianli Technology, which is associated with Geely; and NavInfo invested a total of 1.8 billion yuan to take a stake in Jianzhi Robotics.

After the National Day holiday, Didi also announced that its autonomous driving subsidiary completed a Series D financing round, raising up to 2 billion yuan. The investors include GAC Group and state-owned investment platforms from Beijing and Guangzhou.

Behind these high-profile cases, the investment data for the entire industry is also on the rise. According to CVSource of China Venture Capital, there have been 91 financing rounds and 25 mergers and acquisitions in the autonomous driving industry this year, totaling 116 transactions, exceeding the figures for the same period in 2023 and 2024.

Compared with the investment boom in 2020 driven by the "technology narrative," this year's financings in the autonomous driving sector not only have larger individual deal sizes but also see industrial players taking the lead. This indicates that autonomous driving is entering the mass production and implementation stage. The financing wave among leading companies marks a crucial turning point in the commercialization of autonomous driving.

01. Six Rounds of Financing in Six Years: Didi's Autonomous Driving Unit Valued at Over 36.5 Billion Yuan

According to the announcement, Didi's 2-billion-yuan Series D financing was mainly participated in by GAC Group and state-owned investors from Beijing and Guangzhou.

The specific investors include the Zhongguancun Science City Technology Growth Fund, the Beijing Information Industry Development Investment Fund, the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, GAC Group, the Guangzhou Guanghua Fund, and Didi Chuxing.

Although the post-investment valuation was not officially disclosed, the "Global Unicorn List 2025" released by Hurun this year shows that Didi's autonomous driving unit is valued at 36.5 billion yuan. It is speculated that after this round of financing, its valuation may have reached around 40 billion yuan.

Didi's autonomous driving unit's growth from its first financing to a valuation approaching 40 billion yuan is not accidental.

In 2016, Didi established an autonomous driving technology R & D department, aiming for L4-level autonomous driving. In August 2019, Didi announced the upgrade of its autonomous driving department into an independent company. After becoming independent in 2019, Didi's autonomous driving unit accelerated its financing pace.

In 2020, the company received a $500 million Series A financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund, becoming one of the largest single autonomous driving investments in Asia at that time. Since then, at a frequency of one round per year, it has successively attracted well - known domestic and foreign institutions such as IDG Capital, CPE Yuanfeng, GAC Group, and Valeo China to participate in its investments. Including this Series D financing, Didi's autonomous driving unit has completed a total of six rounds of financing, with a cumulative amount exceeding 10 billion yuan.

Among the many investors, GAC Group (including GAC Capital) is the most committed industrial shareholder. Since its first participation in a $300 million strategic investment in 2021, GAC has continued to increase its investment in 2024 and 2025.

Through three consecutive investments, the two parties have formed a deeply - bound relationship. The establishment of Guangzhou Andi Technology Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou in 2024 is a concrete manifestation of this capital synergy and industrial cooperation.

Driven by GAC, state - owned investors from Guangzhou have also joined the fray. Local capital such as Guangzhou Development Zone Investment Group and the Guanghua Fund have gradually entered the shareholder structure, providing policy support for Didi's testing rights and demonstration operations in the southern market.

In this Series D financing, state - owned investors from Beijing are also important participants. One of the investors in this round, the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Fund, is jointly managed by Qiming Venture Partners and Beijing State - owned Assets Management Co., Ltd. It is a key fund for Beijing to promote the "AI + manufacturing" layout.

It is worth noting that Qiming Venture Partners missed the opportunity to invest in Didi Chuxing in its early days. It is said that Kuang Ziping publicly stated that he did not foresee Didi's potential to build a large - scale ecosystem beyond software and tools at that time. This time, its return to the Didi ecosystem to bet on autonomous driving can be seen as a late - coming supplementary investment.

Of course, for Didi, which was once at the center of the storm when it delisted, receiving a significant 2 - billion - yuan investment after five years also means the return of trust from both the capital and policy sides.

02. The "Mass Production Narrative" Drives the Recovery of Autonomous Driving Investments

More importantly, the joint investment of 2 billion yuan by GAC Capital and Beijing state - owned investors reflects the current shift in the investment trend of the autonomous driving industry - from the "technology narrative" to the "mass production narrative."

Looking back at the industry's development, the period from 2020 to 2022 was the peak of global autonomous driving financing.

In 2020, Waymo, a US autonomous driving company, completed a $3 billion financing round, with a post - investment valuation of up to $30 billion. One year later, Aurora went public on the NASDAQ, with a market value once exceeding $11 billion. These two star companies ignited the global enthusiasm for autonomous driving investment.

According to CVSource of China Venture Capital, there were 126 autonomous driving - related financing events in China in 2020, which climbed to 224 in 2021 and remained at a high of 201 in 2022.

At that time, Didi's autonomous driving unit, Zhuoyu Technology, etc. became independently operated, and companies such as Pony.ai and WeRide received intensive financing. For example, Pony.ai raised a total of $729 million in two financing rounds in 2020, and its valuation soared from $1.67 billion in 2019 to $5.3 billion; WeRide completed three rounds of financing in 2021, raising over $1 billion in total, and its valuation reached $4.4 billion.

During this period, the confidence of VC/PE firms was based on the future prospects of autonomous driving. The "technology narrative" was the common language in the industry.

However, since 2022, the financing heat has significantly declined, and the industry entered a cooling - off period. It was not until the second half of 2024 that the market began to quietly recover. Especially this year, there have been 91 financing events and 25 mergers and acquisitions in the domestic autonomous driving field, indicating an obvious return of capital.

Representative cases include:

In November 2024, Great Wall Motor led a $100 million investment in DeepRoute.ai;

In April 2025, Chery and Luxshare Precision jointly invested 1 billion yuan in Qingzhou Zhixing;

In June 2025, Hello's Robotaxi business attracted strategic investments from Ant Group and CATL, raising over 3 billion yuan;

In September 2025, NavInfo invested 1.8 billion yuan to take a stake in Jianzhi Robotics;

During the same period, FAW acquired Zhuoyu Technology, an autonomous driving company affiliated with DJI; Mercedes - Benz invested 1.339 billion yuan in Qianli Technology.

Compared with the situation in 2020, these cases not only involve large - scale financings but also see state - owned and industrial capital replacing early - stage VC firms as the leading investors. This reflects the new changes in the autonomous driving industry: 2025 has become an important turning point for the implementation of autonomous driving scenarios and mass production.

The entry of local state - owned investors and industrial giants marks the beginning of the second stage: the former provides policy support, while the latter provides vehicle models and system synergy. The three parties jointly promote the commercialization of autonomous driving.

Take Didi as an example. Its financing announcement clearly states that "Didi's autonomous driving unit has started full - scenario, fully driverless testing in Beijing and Guangzhou." Moreover, "the new - generation pre - installed autonomous driving vehicles jointly developed with GAC Aion will be delivered by the end of 2025, followed by demonstration applications in Beijing, Guangzhou and other places."

These developments mean that the day when the autonomous driving industry moves from algorithm competition to real - world implementation on the streets is getting closer.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Beyond the J - Curve." Author: Yang Boyu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.