US-based shuttle transport technology developer May Mobility has secured $11.5m in a seed round co-led by BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures, subsidiaries of carmakers BMW and Toyota.
The corporates were joined by accelerator operator and venture capital firm Y Combinator as well as seed-stage VC funds Maven Ventures and SV Angel, VC firm Tandem Ventures and transport-focused fund Trucks Ventures.
May Mobility builds autonomous micro-shuttle buses for use by clients such as business parks, education campuses or municipal districts. They are designed to interact safely with other road users, creating room for motorists and preventing collisions with pedestrians.
The technology underwent a pilot scheme in Detroit with real estate developer Bedrock in October 2017. Further trials will take place in the coming months, and May Mobility will use the funding to deploy more shuttle services across the US.
May Mobility has now raised $15m altogether. It emerging from stealth in August 2017 with $3.5m of seed capital from investors including Maven Ventures, Trucks Ventures and Tandem Ventures after graduating from Y Combinator’s accelerator.
– Photo courtesy of May Mobility, Inc.