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Self-driving car technology startup Drive.ai raises $15M from Uber rival Grab
Silicon Valley self-driving car technology startup Drive.ai has raised $15 million in a new round from GrabTaxi Holdings Pte Ltd., an Uber Technologies Inc. rival and Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing service.
Founded in 2015 by former lab partners from Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, Drive.ai is building a platform that applies deep learning and AI to deliver a cost-efficient autonomous vehicle software. The company claims that its “deep learning-first approach” allows its autonomous vehicles to rapidly learn new driving scenarios and routes “without tedious engineering effort” allowing it to easily scale to new locations in the U.S. and abroad.
In addition to developing software and kits that can be applied to new vehicles, Drive.ai is also developing retrofit kits that can convert existing commercial vehicles into self-driving fleets.
With Grab on board as a major investor, the company said it would also seek to establish an office in Singapore, Grab’s hometown. Singapore has been a global leader in the development and deployment of self-driving cars, with rival firm nuTonomy the first company in the world to deploy a fleet of self-driving taxis back in October 2016. The Singapore government is also a strong backer of technology, saying in 2015 that it wanted the city-state to become the world’s first smart nation including support for autonomous vehicles.
“Self-driving is the global space race of our time, so we’ve had our eyes set on international deployment since the start. This focus is reflected in our investor base, with investors from around the world, and now with Grab,” Drive.ai Chief Executive Officer Sameep Tandon said in a statement. “Grab is an early adopter of autonomous vehicle technology in Singapore, and we are excited to have their support as we open our Singapore office.”
Including the new round, Drive.ai has raised $77 million to date. Previous investors include GGV Capital, HOF Capital, InnoSpring, Maniv Mobility, New Enterprise Associates, Northern Light Venture Capital and Oriza Ventures.
The company said it would use the new funding to expand its headcount, accelerate technological development, grow business partnerships and for the establishment of its Singapore office.
Photo: Drive.ai
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