Logistics Automation Startup G7 Wins $2.2 Billion Valuation

What’s new: G7, a Beijing-based startup the develops Internet of Things (IoT) technology to automate logistics, said that it had raised $200 million in a new funding round led by Trustbridge Partners, giving it a valuation of about $2.2 billion.

The fresh capital will be spent on developing technology and recruiting talent, G7’s Chief Financial Officer Zhang Jielong told Caixin on Monday.

Several other investors participated in the funding round, including State Development and Investment Corp. Ltd., Shanghai Chaos Investment Group Co. Ltd., GLP and China Broadband Capital.

The background: Founded in 2010, G7 makes most of its money from a platform designed to help trucking companies digitize their operations. The platform tracks data from IoT-enabled sensors installed by G7 that gather logistics data from client vehicles.

The platform falls under the industry term software-as-a-service (SaaS), a growing area of the tech industry. The value of the global SaaS market is expected to hit $717 billion by 2028, compared with $131 billion in 2021, according to market researcher Fortune Business Insights.

G7 founder and CEO Zhai Xuehun predicted that more and more of the logistics industry will be managed by automated platforms over the next decade, with commercial use of services related to smart dispatch and autonomous driving gaining wider adoption.

In 2018, G7 got together with GLP and Nio Capital to set up a joint venture that develops autonomous driving technology for trucks. Named Inceptio, the venture has also received backing from food delivery giant Meituan and e-commerce titan JD.com Inc.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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