Ford Smart Mobility, a subsidiary of carmaker Ford Motor Company, agreed on Friday to acquire US-based shuttle service startup Chariot in a transaction that will provide an exit to sporting league Major League Baseball (MLB).
Ford did not disclose the purchase price, but it was reported by Business Insider to be $65m with earnouts to be added.
Founded in 2014, Chariot operates a shuttle service across various commuter routes in the San Francisco Bay Area using around 100 buses that costs as little as $3 a ride. Post-acquisition, it will look to expand its service along with its dynamic routing technology.
The company secured $3m in an April 2015 seed round backed by investors including MLB’s corporate venturing arm Major League Baseball Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, SoftTech VC, Maven Ventures, Y Combinator and Haystack.
Legal firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was also among Chariot’s investors, according to venture capital deals database CrunchBase.
Ford made the purchase alongside the formation of a strategic partnership with bike sharing service Motivate that will involve its expansion in various city centres and the launch of a City Solutions team that will help the corporate expand its mobility offering.
Mark Fields, president and chief executive of Ford, said: “We are expanding our business to be both an auto and a mobility company, and partnering with cities on current and future transportation needs is the next major step.
“For more than 100 years, Ford has been part of the community and the trusted source for automotive transportation. Now, we want to work with communities to offer even more transportation choices and solutions for people – for decades to come.”