Self-driving startup Robotics Research raises $228 million in funding

The fundraising round also included an investment from Luminor Technologies, which makes lidar sensors used in self-driving cars.

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Robotics Research raises $228 million to expand solutions for its commercial division

Self-driving technology startup Robotic Research said Thursday it has raised $228 million from investors including SoftBank to scale up its commercial division’s solutions for trucks, buses and logistics vehicles.

The fundraising round also included an investment from Luminor Technologies, which makes lidar sensors used in self-driving cars.

Robotic Research has been working on various military applications for the US Department of Defense for over 20 years, including a self-driving road clearing vehicle used in Afghanistan and an autonomous shuttle for wounded soldiers on Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

The company also runs “platooning” cargo services – where driverless trucks follow a lead truck over a set distance on highways for the US military.

Robotic Research chief executive Alberto Laquez told Reuters that sensor prices had made commercial applications for self-driving unattainable for years, but that had changed and the company’s RR.AI commercial unit is now taking advantage of it. Was.

“That’s why we’ve solicited investments right now because the prices of sensors and hardware have changed to where they are usable on the commercial side,” Laquez said. “We’re already expanding and it allows us to do it faster.”

While the initial focus on autonomous vehicles was on roboticaxis, more investment is flowing to less-complicated uses in logistics that could generate revenue much sooner.

Lacaze said his company’s work for the military includes working in “edge case” areas that are dusty, with no GPS, no road markings, or no well-defined roads — an experience that other There is a dearth of autonomous technology companies.

“We feel very confident to move into the commercial sector, where most of our competitors are operating in very defined areas,” he added.

In the next year, RR.AI will deploy autonomous vehicles for Canada’s logging industry and several agricultural vehicles. The company is also working on pilot projects using “yard dogs” or trucks to be used in distribution yards.

RR.AI is deploying partially autonomous systems on buses with US bus manufacturer GILLIG in Kansas City, Missouri, and with the Canadian NFI Group Inc.’s New Flyer Industries bus division in Connecticut.

When asked about the potential listing, Lacaze said that Robotics Research may go public at some point but that it was not a priority at present.

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“Right now we are more interested in expanding and distributing the savings to our customers,” he said.

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