Dec. 30, 2021
Source: 36Kr
Rino.ai, a leading autonomous delivery technology company, has recently completed its Pre-A+ funding round, raising RMB 50 million (approx. USD 7 million). This round was led by Soda Capital, Changan Private Capital, and Cornerstone Capital, with existing investor Linear Capital making an oversubscribed follow-on investment. Yuanyi Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for the deal.
Rino.ai CEO Lei Zhu stated that the new funds will be used in two primary areas: to expand autonomous delivery operations across more cities and scale the vehicle fleet, as well as to intensify R&D efforts aimed at adapting to more complex and open-road scenarios.
This new financing round comes just months after Rino.ai secured nearly USD 10 million in Pre-A funding led by Linear Capital in July 2025, signaling strong investor confidence in the company’s business model and long-term growth potential. Linear Capital’s Founder and CEO, Huai Wang, commented:“We are increasingly convinced that Rino.ai is the most promising startup in the last-three-kilometer autonomous delivery segment. As lead investor in the Pre-A round, we are proud to further our commitment with a substantial follow-on investment.”
Founded in April 2019 by Lei Zhu and Dr. Tian Xia—both former senior engineers from Baidu’s autonomous driving division—Rino.ai is dedicated to building full-stack unmanned delivery solutions and supporting long-term autonomous vehicle operations. The company expects to grow its team to over 100 employees next year.
Having started with pilot food delivery projects, Rino.ai has since pivoted to a more scalable model centered on supermarket and retail logistics. Over the past year, the company has gained deep operational insights into the challenges of last-mile logistics, including labor shortages and inefficiencies—issues that autonomous delivery is uniquely positioned to address.
Since fall 2020, Rino.ai has partnered with Yonghui Superstores, deploying a fleet of autonomous delivery vehicles around Yonghui’s Anting Xinzhen location in Jiading District, Shanghai. These vehicles operate independently to deliver groceries to communities within a 3–5 km radius. According to Rino.ai, the fleet has been in continuous operation since September 2020 and fully meets the store’s delivery demand.
Beyond supermarkets, Rino.ai is also collaborating with additional retail platforms. In July, the company partnered with Dada Group to launch an autonomous delivery platform. Through services such as JD Daojia, customers can enjoy one-hour delivery fulfilled by autonomous vehicles.
Rino.ai’s autonomous delivery fleet is now operating and being tested in several major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen. The company currently maintains a few dozen active vehicles and has set an ambitious goal:“Starting from 2022, our goal is to reach 5,000 daily active autonomous vehicles on public roads within five years,” said CEO Lei Zhu.
To achieve this scale, the company believes that both technical innovation and operational readiness are essential. CTO Dr. Tian Xia explained:“Scalable last-mile autonomous delivery requires two key capabilities: First, improving algorithm performance through real-world testing and operations to enable fully driverless navigation in complex environments; second, ensuring the consistency and stability of both software and hardware systems during deployment.”
While the autonomous delivery industry is still in its early stages, major players like Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan have begun actively deploying unmanned delivery vehicles in real-world logistics settings.“There is a clear sense of momentum in the industry,” said Zhu.
But we recognize that true mass adoption may still be three to five years away.
Zhu emphasized two challenges that remain:
Regulatory access to public roads is gradually opening up, but full-scale approval will take time. Pilot zones are currently limited to low-traffic areas and are being expanded step-by-step.
Cost reduction remains essential. This includes both the hardware costs of the vehicles and the operational costs associated with mapping, insurance, maintenance, and more. As the technology matures and deployment scales, costs are expected to decline.
The investors expressed strong optimism about Rino.ai’s commercial prospects:
Donghua Shi, Founding Partner of Soda Capital:“Starting from fresh food delivery, Rino.ai has built a full commercial loop by integrating its technology with real business use cases—serving Yonghui, Dada, and others. With the continued advancement of autonomous driving and increasing access to public roads, we believe Rino.ai will significantly expand its business footprint and bring last-three-kilometer delivery to more people through automation.”
Li Xie, Founding Partner of Changan Private Capital:“Unmanned delivery is gradually entering people’s daily lives. The sector is driven by both technological capability and operational deployment, with regional exclusivity advantages. Rino.ai stands out as one of the few L4-level autonomous companies with legal road access in multiple cities and consistent service records. Their resilience and focus are exceptional.”
Yiqun Huang, Partner at Cornerstone Capital:“Instant delivery has become a core part of urban life. Unmanned delivery will play a crucial role in this space, and we believe it will be one of the first viable large-scale applications of autonomous driving in cities. Rino.ai has one of the strongest founding teams in the industry.”
