Mountain View, Calif.-based connected and automated vehicle technology provider Peloton Technology recently closed a $60 million Series B funding round led by fleet management solutions provider Omnitracs and existing investors, the company said.
Connected and automated vehicle technology provider Peloton Technology has secured $60 million in Series B funding, the company said in a statement.
The funding round was led by fleet management solutions provider Omnitracs, as well as existing investors Intel Capital, DENSO International America, BP Ventures, Lockheed Martin, Nokia Growth Partners, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Volvo Group, Sand Hill Angels, Band of Angels and Birchmere Ventures along with new investors B37 Ventures, Mitsui USA, Okaya, Schlumberger, US Venture and Breakthrough Fuel.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Peloton has raised a total of $78 million since inception, the company said, adding that the newly secured Series B funds will fuel the company’s growth plans, including the rollout of the world’s first commercial two-truck driver-assistive platooning system later this year.
The company’s flagship platooning system “empowers drivers and trucking fleets to address three major industry challenges of safety, fuel savings and operational efficiency by delivering new tools, capabilities and data,” Peloton said.
“Peloton has taken an innovative and disciplined approach in combining vehicle connectivity and driver-assistive automation technologies to offer immediate value to trucking fleets,” said Larry Burns, a Peloton board member and former vice president of research and development and strategic planning at General Motors. “Peloton’s truck platooning product helps fleets and drivers to improve safety, fuel efficiency and operations today while setting the stage for transformational trucking improvements in the future.”
Several U.S.-based Fortune 500 trucking fleets have already agreed to install the platooning system on a trial basis within the next year, Peloton said.
“At the same time, Peloton and Series B lead investor Omnitracs will expand cross-fleet platooning opportunities by integrating the system with the Omnitracs Intelligent Vehicle Gateway telematics platform and developing new joint telematics solutions,” it added.
“The transportation industry is going through a massive change,” Omnitracs CEO John Graham said of the investment. “Macro-level trends like the Internet of Things, cognitive applications, faster delivery of goods and new levels of customer service are at the core of our new partnership with Peloton. We want to expand the possibilities of truck automation on the nation’s highways and set new standards in integrated dispatch, tracking and routing as well as driver-facing applications to maximize and optimize the orchestration of both same-fleet and cross-fleet platooning.”
“Making cars and trucks safer and more efficient with increasing levels of active safety equipment is critically important to the global economy,” added Kathy Winter, vice president of the Automated Driving Division at Intel, a co-leader on Peloton’s 2015 Series A funding round. “Advanced driver assistance solutions such as Peloton’s, that are based on scalable, secure computing platforms are a key element on the path to fully autonomous driving.”
“We are excited to be working with a growing group of leading companies from across the industry as well as forward-looking state and federal regulators to bring pragmatic, driver-assistive truck automation solutions to market,” said Josh Switkes, co-founder and CEO of Peloton. “This new round of global strategic investment bolsters Peloton’s position as the leading provider of near-term automated truck technology in North America and soon beyond.”
Peloton lands $60m in funding for automated vehicle tech
