Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

Plus develops self-driving truck technology centered on its driver-in autonomous driving solution, PlusDrive. The company is commercializing PlusDrive with truckmakers and fleet partners, including a jointly developed automated truck with FAW and pilots with large fleets such as SF Express. Plus is in the final stages of certifying PlusDrive for commercial operation in China and plans to start mass production of the PlusDrive-powered automated truck this summer. The additional funding will enable Plus to expand global operations and commercial deployment across the U.S., China, Europe, and other parts of Asia. Plus says its technology delivers safety, efficiency, comfort, and sustainability benefits to truck makers and fleets. Financially, Plus announced a new $220 million funding round that is described as an extension of a $200 million round announced last month. Plus builds a full‑stack automated driving system for heavy trucks and works with truck manufacturers, shippers, and fleet operators to deploy that system at scale. The company says mass production of its automated trucks will begin in 2021 and it has more than 10,000 pre-orders. Plus plans to use recent funding to accelerate global commercialization, scale deployments in the U.S. and China, expand into Europe and other parts of Asia, and build a sales and support network to help fleets integrate its system. It also intends to grow its engineering team to continue developing its autonomous driving technology. Plus has completed pilots with major logistics providers, completed a cross‑country commercial freight run with Land O’Lakes, and entered a joint venture with FAW to be an exclusive autonomous trucking technology provider. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Led · Series B · Sep 2017

Zhaoyou operates 51zhaoyou.com, a transaction platform for the petroleum industry that provides comprehensive fuel trading, logistics, and financial services. Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Tony Lv, the company serves customers including some of China’s leading logistics companies. It has offices in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Hubei, covering over 40 cities. Last year the platform recorded cumulative transactions of over RMB500 million (US$75 million). As of June this year the company’s turnover exceeded RMB1.5 billion (US$230 million) and was expected to reach RMB5 billion (US$750 million) for all of 2017. Zhaoyou will use the new funds to continue expanding operations and its business reach.

Led · Series B · Aug 2017

Zhaoyou (51zhaoyou.com) operates a business-to-business e-commerce and transaction platform serving the petroleum industry, providing comprehensive fuel trading, logistics, and financial services. Founded in 2015, the company has offices in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Hubei and covers over 40 cities. Its customers include some of China’s leading logistics companies. The platform reported cumulative transactions of over RMB500 million (US$75M) last year; as of June 2017 turnover exceeded RMB1.5 billion (US$230M) and was expected to reach RMB5 billion (US$750M) for all of 2017. Sky9 Capital has been an active backer and provided strategic and HR-related support during the company’s rapid growth. Zhaoyou is positioning to scale its product and service offerings across trading, logistics and finance in the petroleum ecosystem.