(Yicai Global) March 1 -- Foxconn and GL Ventures are the lead investors in pre-A round financing of nearly CNY100 million (USD15.5 million) for AutoCore, an intelligent automobile software and hardware platform supplier, Yicai Global has learned.

AutoCore will use the money to speed up development of the middleware system platform for its AutoCore.OS and the electrical/electronic architecture for open-source autonomous driving projects, Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Technology Group, told Yicai Global today.

Set up in 2017, Nanjing-based AutoCore is a founding member of the Autoware Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting open-source self-driving projects, and it has built an autonomous driving platform with its Japanese strategic partner TierIV.

The company also has in-depth cooperation with leading chip, Tier-1 and original equipment manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan and China and a number of its open-source projects are widely used.

Taiwan-based OEM giant Foxconn is accelerating its investment in the auto industry, having recently signed deals with Byton, Geely and Fisker Automotive.

Foxconn will invest in electric vehicles, digital health and robotics as well as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and next-generation communications technology, Chairman Liu Yangwei said in a recent report to shareholders.

Editor: Tom Litting