Deeproute
Deeproute is a Shenzhen-based autonomous driving technology company founded in 2019 that develops AI-powered ADAS and autonomous driving solutions for Chinese automotive OEMs, anchored by a proprietary 40-billion-parameter Vision-Language-Action foundation model and embedded across over 300,000 mass-production vehicles.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersShenzhen, China
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Deeproute does
Deeproute (元戎启行) is a Chinese autonomous driving technology company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Shenzhen, with R&D offices in Beijing and a US office in Fremont, California. The company develops AI-based autonomous driving solutions for automotive OEMs, anchored by a proprietary 40-billion-parameter Vision-Language-Action (VLA) Foundation Model unveiled at NVIDIA GTC 2026, which integrates perception, reasoning, and action within a single neural network with Chain-of-Thought capabilities. Its production product, DeepRoute IO, is a combination assisted driving solution that supports both LiDAR and pure-vision configurations across multiple vehicle price segments and chip platforms, with full-domain point-to-point capability covering urban, highway, parking, and AEB functions. Deeproute also operates Robotaxi pilot services in Shenzhen, launched in July 2021 as the first autonomous driving demonstration in the city's central urban area.
Deeproute operates a B2B technology licensing and embedded-solution business model, monetizing primarily through OEM mass-production contracts. Its customer base comprises Chinese automotive manufacturers including Dongfeng Motor (strategic partner since 2019), smart (Mercedes-Geely JV), and Seres' new AIVA brand, with technology embedded into over 300,000 mass-production vehicles as of 2026 and a target of 1 million by end of 2026. The company holds 39.4% market share among third-party suppliers in the high-level autonomous driving segment as of October 2025 and 24% in China's urban NOA sector. Sub-$10,000 production BOM for L4 systems and ASIL-D functional safety certification underpin the cost-competitive mass-market positioning. Cumulative funding exceeds $700 million across rounds including a $300 million Alibaba-led Series B in 2021 and a $100 million round led by Great Wall Motors in 2024; Deeproute has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO targeted in 2H 2026.
Deeproute firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Deeproute
- Legal name
- DeepRoute
- Website
- https://deeproute.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Deeproute is a Shenzhen-based autonomous driving technology company founded in 2019 that develops AI-powered ADAS and autonomous driving solutions for Chinese automotive OEMs, anchored by a proprietary 40-billion-parameter Vision-Language-Action foundation model and embedded across over 300,000 mass-production vehicles.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Deeproute industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Autonomous Driving Technology
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- On-Device Inference Runtimes & SDKs (mobile/embedded) (HDAAAJAB), AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF)
Keywords
Where Deeproute is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Shenzhen
- HQ country
- China
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices3 records
Markets served
Deeproute business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- ADAS Technology Licensing: Licensing autonomous driving technology solutions to automotive OEMs for integration into mass production vehicles. Revenue generated through technology supply contracts with automakers.
- Robotaxi Services: Commercial Robotaxi pilot operations providing autonomous ride-hailing services. DeepRoute launched Shenzhen's first autonomous driving demonstration operation in urban center in July 2021.
- L4 Autonomous Driving Systems: Production bill of materials for L4 autonomous driving systems with sub-$10,000 cost, enabling mass commercialization of robotaxi and autonomous trucking solutions.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Deeproute product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Deeproute develops AI-powered autonomous driving software and integrated intelligent driving solutions for automotive OEMs. Its core product, DeepRoute IO, is a production-ready combination assisted driving solution built on a proprietary 40-billion parameter Vision-Language-Action (VLA) foundation model and end-to-end neural network architecture. The company also operates Robotaxi pilot services in Shenzhen and supplies L4 autonomous driving hardware/software systems at sub-$10,000 BOM cost.
Product overview
Deeproute (元戎启行) is an international leading artificial intelligence enterprise developing intelligent autonomous driving technology. The company offers a unified platform approach centered on its Vision-Language-Action (VLA) Foundation Model and DeepRoute IO intelligent driving solution. The VLA model serves as the core AI brain integrating perception, reasoning, and action capabilities, while DeepRoute IO provides the production-ready combination assisted driving system deployed across multiple vehicle models. The portfolio includes end-to-end neural network models, Urban NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) solutions, and Robotaxi services, all unified through the company's foundation model architecture. The company has achieved mass production with over 300,000 vehicles equipped with its technology, while maintaining a research-focused approach through the VLA foundation model as the underlying enabler across all product lines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- DeepRoute IO Next-generation combination assisted driving solution featuring VLA model integration, multi-chip platform adaptation, and support for both LiDAR and pure vision configurations across multiple price segment models. Provides full-domain point-to-point combination assisted driving including urban, highway, parking, and AEB functions for automotive OEM partners.
- VLA (Vision-Language-Action) Foundation Model 40-billion-parameter foundation model integrating perception, reasoning, and action within a single neural network with Chain-of-Thought capabilities for defensive driving awareness and complex road condition handling. Serves as the core AI brain enabling multimodal understanding across vision, language, and action modalities.
- Robotaxi Services Autonomous ride-hailing service operated in Shenzhen's central urban areas. Provides commercial Robotaxi pilot operations as a demonstration and validation platform for Deeproute's autonomous driving technology stack.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 180,000 potential collisions prevented through city NOA system deployed in production vehicles
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Deeproute
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Deeproute technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature6 records
Deeproute partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Dongfeng MotorcoreDeepRoute established comprehensive deep cooperation with Dongfeng Motor including Robotaxi demonstration operations at the Wuhan Intelligent Connected Vehicle Demonstration Zone during the 7th World Military Games in October 2019, and ongoing mass production cooperation on combined assisted driving systems.
- smartcoreStrategic partnership with smart focused on exploring AI frontier technology, jointly developing intelligent driving systems with more AI genes, evolving intelligent driving vehicles from transportation tools into AI intelligent agents.
- Seres (AIVA/Saidou brand)majorDeepRoute.ai expected to provide ADAS solutions for Seres Group's new AI automotive brand AIVA (also called Saidou), which launched in June 2025 with approximately 6.67 billion yuan capital restructuring. The partnership represents Seres' strategy to diversify away from Huawei dependency.
- ByteDance's Volcano EnginemajorSeres' AIVA brand partnership providing Doubao large model for smart cockpit integration, while DeepRoute provides intelligent driving solutions - forming a complete AI vehicle ecosystem alongside the AIVA brand.
- NVIDIAmajorDeepRoute.ai presented its 40-billion parameter VLA Foundation Model at NVIDIA GTC 2026, showcasing collaboration on autonomous driving technology development. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang reportedly considered investing in DeepRoute in 2024 though the deal did not materialize.
Scale indicators15 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Deeproute competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Momenta: Momenta is a leading Chinese autonomous driving startup developing ADAS software and high-level autonomous driving solutions for OEMs, with a comparable end-to-end data-driven approach. The two companies compete directly for Chinese OEM design wins and have both filed for HK IPOs in 2026.
- QCraft: QCraft is a Chinese autonomous driving startup focused on mass-production L2+/L3 ADAS solutions for passenger vehicles. It is the most direct competitor to DeepRoute in the Chinese OEM market and is also pursuing a 2026 HK IPO.
- Pony.ai: Pony.ai is a Chinese autonomous driving company developing robotaxi, autonomous trucking, and L4 technologies. It overlaps with DeepRoute on robotaxi operations in China and on the broader L4 commercialization race.
- WeRide: WeRide is a Chinese autonomous driving company operating robotaxi services and ADAS solutions for Chinese OEMs. It is a direct competitor in both the L4 robotaxi pilot and the OEM-supplied ADAS segments where DeepRoute operates.
Emerging players
- Horizon Robotics: Horizon Robotics provides AI chips and integrated ADAS/autonomous driving software stacks to Chinese OEMs. It is both a potential silicon partner and a competitor for OEM design wins, making it a strong adjacent comparable.
Broad incumbents
- Baidu Apollo: Baidu's Apollo is a broad autonomous driving platform offering robotaxi (Apollo Go), ADAS solutions, and HD maps to Chinese OEMs. It is a larger incumbent with a wider portfolio but overlapping ADAS/OEM-supplier business with DeepRoute.
- Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS): Huawei's IAS business unit provides integrated intelligent cockpit, ADAS, and connected vehicle software to Chinese OEMs (e.g., AITO with Seres). It is the dominant bundled software incumbent that DeepRoute's Seres/AIVA partnership is explicitly designed to compete against.
- Mobileye: Mobileye is an established global supplier of ADAS vision and mapping-based driving assist technology to OEMs. While its approach differs (vision/maps vs. DeepRoute's end-to-end VLA), it is a broad incumbent in the same OEM-supplied ADAS segment globally.
- Tesla (FSD): Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software is a vertically integrated, vision-based ADAS/autonomous driving system that has recently entered the Chinese market. It is a broad incumbent that competes for OEM mindshare and consumer mindshare in the Chinese ADAS category where DeepRoute operates.
Others
- NVIDIA (DRIVE): NVIDIA is a key compute platform and infrastructure provider for autonomous driving, and DeepRoute is an NVIDIA partner having presented at NVIDIA GTC 2026. NVIDIA is an enabling technology partner rather than a direct OEM ADAS competitor, but its DRIVE stack increasingly overlaps with software suppliers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights8 records
Customer concentration
Deeproute social profiles
Digital presenceDeeproute compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Deeproute financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Deeproute leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Deeproute funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Deeproute M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Deeproute
What does Deeproute do?
Deeproute develops AI-powered autonomous driving software and integrated intelligent driving solutions for automotive OEMs. Its core product, DeepRoute IO, is a production-ready combination assisted driving solution built on a proprietary 40-billion parameter Vision-Language-Action (VLA) foundation model and end-to-end neural network architecture. The company also operates Robotaxi pilot services in Shenzhen and supplies L4 autonomous driving hardware/software systems at sub-$10,000 BOM cost.
Is Deeproute a public or private company?
Deeproute is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Deeproute founded?
Deeproute was founded in 2019. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Deeproute based?
Deeproute is headquartered in Shenzhen, China, in the Asia region.
How does Deeproute make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. ADAS Technology Licensing is the primary driver. The others are robotaxi Services and L4 Autonomous Driving Systems.
Who are Deeproute's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Momenta, QCraft, Pony.ai and WeRide. Horizon Robotics is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Baidu Apollo, Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS), Mobileye and Tesla (FSD). NVIDIA (DRIVE) is listed as an others.
Does Deeproute have an API?
No public API is recorded for Deeproute.
What industry is Deeproute in?
Deeproute's product category is Autonomous Driving Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEANAJ, AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs), with a secondary code of HDAAAJAB, On-Device Inference Runtimes & SDKs (mobile/embedded). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7373.