US-based autonomous driving system developer ClearMotion secured $115m on Wednesday in a series D round featuring automotive component manufacturer Bridgestone, software producer Microsoft and mobile chipmaker Qualcomm.
Investment manager Franklin Templeton Investments led the round, which included special interest group AARP’s Innovation Fund as well as Eileses Capital, World Innovation Lab (WIL) and NewView Capital as well as clients advised by JP Morgan Asset Management.
Spun out of MIT in 2009, ClearMotion has created what it calls a proactive ride system, a form of road-sensing technology that combines software and hardware to help driverless vehicles navigate rough roads by using sensors to help mitigate for bumps and uneven surfaces in real time.
Bridgestone is one of several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) ClearMotion has secured as partners, and the company has built a pilot production plant that will support the initial launches of its systems.
Shakeel Avadhany, founder and chief executive of ClearMotion, said: “From tire to human, we have developed a software and hardware solution that digitises our analogue relationship to the road.
“As mobility options change how people move about cities and suburbs, the importance of quality of time in vehicles escalates, both for drivers and passengers. In working with our OEM customers and tier-1 partners, ride quality has risen in priority while they simultaneously seek enhancements to their driving dynamics DNA.”
The company emerged from stealth in early 2017 with $130m in funding, $100m of which had come from a series C round led by clients advised by JP Morgan Asset Management and backed by Qualcomm unit Qualcomm Ventures, WIL, Eileses Capital and New Enterprise Associates.
Bridgestone subsequently provided an undisclosed amount of funding for ClearMotion later the same year.
