Suzhou Breeds a Unicorn in the Unmanned Vehicle Industry Worth Billions, and the Pattern of Two Leading Unmanned Delivery Companies in North and South China Begins to Emerge

The leading player in Suzhou's unmanned delivery field has a valuation exceeding 10 billion yuan.

It is reported that Jiushi Intelligence has just completed a new round of financing, with a scale exceeding 2.1 billion yuan and a valuation exceeding 10 billion yuan.

The subtlety lies in that the completion time of this financing was just a few weeks after the merger with Cainiao's unmanned vehicle fleet... In the five years since its establishment, Jiushi has received a total of six rounds of financing, with a cumulative financing exceeding 5.5 billion yuan.

Jiushi Intelligence Completes over $300 million in Financing

According to 36Kr, Jiushi Intelligence from Suzhou recently completed a new round of financing exceeding $300 million (approximately 2.06 billion yuan).

The investors in this round of financing include large industrial players, government funds from multiple first - tier cities, as well as market - oriented US dollar and RMB investment institutions.

This is the sixth round of financing since Jiushi was established, and it is also the first publicly disclosed large - scale financing in the L4 unmanned delivery track since the beginning of 2026.

The timing is quite ingenious - it has only been a few weeks since the strategic cooperation between Jiushi and Cainiao's unmanned vehicles.

After the integration, the total size of Jiushi Intelligence's vehicle fleet has exceeded 20,000 units, becoming the largest unmanned delivery fleet in China at that time, covering more than 300 cities in over 10 countries around the world.

The growth rate of the vehicle fleet is astonishing:

In 2023, the number of Jiushi's unmanned vehicles deployed was only 200; in 2024, it increased to 2,000; and by the beginning of 2026, through integration with Cainiao, the scale quickly reached 20,000, achieving an exponential growth of nearly 10 times per year.

At the same time, Jiushi's financing pace has also maintained a steady rhythm:

Since its establishment in August 2021, Jiushi has maintained the pace of completing at least one important round of financing every year, and in the six rounds of financing, at least four rounds have exceeded $100 million.

The earliest round of capital support started in August 2022 - that is, about one year after the company was established.

The real explosion period occurred in 2025. In this year, Jiushi Intelligence made frequent moves in the capital market, successively completing two important rounds of financing, with a cumulative amount exceeding $400 million.

The financing in April last year was one of the largest single - round financings completed in the autonomous driving field of the primary market in the past two years.

Immediately followed by the financing in October last year, Ant Group entered the game, bringing not only financial support but also laying a foreshadowing for the subsequent ecological integration between Jiushi and the "Alibaba ecosystem".

Counting the latest round of financing, Jiushi's shareholder lineup spans industrial capital and leading funds, including well - known institutions such as Meituan, Ant Group, BV Baidu Ventures, CDH Baifu, and Blue Lake Capital.

As of now, the cumulative publicly disclosed financing amount of Jiushi Intelligence has exceeded $800 million (approximately 5.5 billion yuan).

The company's latest valuation has also exceeded the 10 - billion - yuan mark, becoming the first unicorn to achieve this feat in the domestic L4 - level unmanned delivery field.

What level is it?

5.5 billion yuan in financing in 5 years, what level is it?

Since 2025, the L4 - level unmanned delivery track has witnessed an explosion period of capital and industrialization, and the competition pattern of the entire unmanned delivery track has become clearer.

Currently, the domestic unmanned delivery market is mainly composed of autonomous driving startups deeply involved in niche scenarios, logistics platforms and Internet giants with ecological advantages, and Tier1 suppliers and automobile manufacturers entering the market across industries.

Let's first look at autonomous driving startups:

Besides Jiushi Intelligence, the most well - known leading startup players are Neolix and White Rhino.

Neolix, established in 2018, has completed at least 8 rounds of financing as of now, with a cumulative financing exceeding 6 billion yuan; and the number of its unmanned vehicle fleet reached 16,000 units by January this year.

The latest publicly disclosed financing was the D - round completed in October 2025, with a scale exceeding $600 million, which was the largest private placement financing in the Chinese autonomous driving field at that time.

Ideal Auto, Yunqi Capital, Yuanhe Start - up, etc. were the early investors of Neolix; the latest D - round financing of the company also included the participation of Didi, Tencent, UAE Lei Shi Capital, Legend Capital, etc.

The latest valuation was not disclosed in the D - round financing, and according to the C - round financing in March 2024, its post - investment valuation has far exceeded 4 billion yuan.

Then look at White Rhino, another company established in 2019. The number of its actively operating vehicles exceeded 2,000 by the end of 2025.

White Rhino has also gone through 8 rounds of financing, and the publicly disclosed cumulative financing amount is nearly 800 million yuan. It is worth noting that SF Express has increased its investment in White Rhino three times in the past two years.

The company has not disclosed its valuation, and the outside world speculates that its latest valuation is between $100 million and $400 million (approximately 700 million - 2.7 billion yuan).

In addition, there are some players in the unmanned delivery field who are also technology suppliers in the autonomous driving industry.

For example, Xingshen Intelligence, established in 2017, has completed 5 rounds of financing, with a total financing scale reaching hundreds of millions of yuan.

The latest round of financing was the B - round completed last year, invested by Changxing Jinkong, but the financing amount and the company's valuation have not been disclosed in more detail.

There is also Youjia Innovation from Shenzhen, established in 2014. In the year of its establishment, it received an investment of 10 million yuan from Wu Yongming, the CEO of Alibaba.

In the following more than a decade, Youjia Innovation has completed more than 8 rounds of financing in total. The latest round was the E - round financing in 2023. According to public information, the cumulative financing amount far exceeds 600 million yuan.

In late 2024, Youjia Innovation was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and its highest market value once exceeded HK$17 billion, and the current market value is approximately HK$6 billion (approximately 5.3 billion yuan).

There are also some other players entering the unmanned delivery field, such as Kunlang Technology, YouShi Xiaoche...

By comparing public information, we can find that Jiushi Intelligence in the south and Neolix in the north are now in the absolute leading camp in terms of valuation and financing scale; and the industry pattern is gradually showing a "two - pole and multi - hero" situation.

Besides these startups, many Internet giants and logistics platforms have also entered the unmanned delivery field, such as JD Logistics, Meituan, SF Express, and Cainiao, which has just reached a strategic adjustment with Jiushi.

There are also other enterprises and suppliers in the automotive industry participating, such as Jiangling in cooperation with WeRide; suppliers include Desay SV, Momenta, Zhuoyu Technology, etc.

Behind the cross - industry entry and alliance of many participants is the competition for the huge entrance of the "last mile" of urban logistics.

Zhou Qing, the co - founder of Jiushi Intelligence, once compared the industry competition situation to the end of the transition from the "Spring and Autumn Period" to the "Warring States Period", where the leading effect will become more obvious, and ultimately it may be unified by the "Qin and Han Dynasties".

The industry situation at the beginning of 2026 just confirms this judgment.

With the continuous concentration of capital on the leading players, the gradual opening of policy - based road rights, and the continuous optimization of technology costs, the unmanned delivery industry has reached a critical node of moving from "scale verification" to "profit - making closed - loop".

This article is from the WeChat official account “Intelligent Vehicle Reference” (ID: AI4Auto), author: Youche Wuren, published by 36Kr with authorization.