Chinese autonomous logistics service provider Neolix is accelerating the global rise of driverless logistics, as the deployment and commercialization of self-driving robovans enter a new booming stage.

The company announced on Thursday that it had secured over $600 million in series D financing, the largest private fundraising in the country's autonomous driving industry to date.

Yu Enyuan, founder and CEO of Neolix, attributed investor confidence to the company's success in achieving large-scale commercial adoption of Level-4 autonomous delivery vehicles.

"Driverless delivery has reached a turning point — shifting from research and development and pilot trials to full-scale commercial operations worldwide," Yu said.

In September, Neolix's cumulative global deliveries surpassed 10,000 units, and the company expects to reach 3,000 units per month by the end of this year.

The global delivery robot market is forecast to expand from $520 million in 2025 to $3.99 billion by 2032, a compound annual growth rate of 33.7 percent, according to data from market intelligence platform Fortune Business Insights.

"2025 is a remarkable year for China's autonomous driving industry going global, as it marks a shift for industry players from simply being able to operate to achieving large-scale, accelerated commercialization, and from isolated pilot projects to platform-level global expansion," said Bai Wenxi, vice-chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Union.

Neolix is echoing the growth momentum with accelerated global expansion. After obtaining the United Arab Emirates' first robovan license last month, it signed a strategic partnership this month with K2 Group, a state-owned AI technology enterprise in the UAE. The collaboration aims to co-develop robovan vehicles tailored to the Middle East's desert climate, diverse terrain and regulatory landscape.

"This partnership merges our deep local market expertise with Neolix's proven global experience in scaled deployment," said Sean Teo, managing director of K2 Group. "It's not just a technology transfer, but a step toward building an ecosystem that empowers local talent and urban mobility innovation."

Yu said the Middle East will serve as Neolix's bridgehead for overseas expansion, followed by other pilot projects in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and Hong Kong, starting at the end of this year.

"We plan to deploy 5,000 autonomous vehicles in the UAE by the end of 2026, and expect annual overseas sales to reach 5,000 to 10,000 units by 2027," he said.

"The global expansion of Chinese autonomous vehicle firms carries significant strategic value," Yu added. "Given the industry's high level of integration, one sector's overseas growth will drive entire supporting ecosystems to go global as well."

Yu added that China's innovation ecosystem offers a unique foundation for high-tech startups. "From data traffic and computing power to data storage, everything in China forms a mature, cost-effective infrastructure — something rarely found overseas," he said.

On the technological front, Neolix just unveiled its self-developed mapless L4 solution in commercial deployment, making it among the first ones in the driverless delivery sector to deliver mapless autonomous technology.

Mapless autonomous driving leverages real-time visual perception and large AI models to enable vehicles to navigate without preloaded high-definition maps.

"By eliminating dependence on HD maps, the mapless system can cut related costs by over 90 percent and significantly reduce hardware expenses," Yu said. "It thus has an edge in terms of flexible operational modes, unfamiliar or complex environments, and cross-border licensing challenges tied to HD mapping — a key advantage for international expansion."

lijiaying@chinadaily.com.cn