Peloton Technology is a California-based semi-autonomous vehicle technology business. It enables heavy vehicles to link together in a tightly-knit peloton (hence the name) to reduce fuel costs and increase safety. It does through radar-based braking systems and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
Peloton’s roster of shareholders is a who’s who of corporate VC leaders in the automotive sector. Denso International America and Intel Capital lead the $17m April 2015 a round and were joined by Nokia Growth Partners, Lockheed Martin, Magna International, Castrol innoVentures, Volvo Group Venture Capital and UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. Angel and financial VCs also invested.
Intel’s and Nokia’s investments are symptomatic of the software industry’s growing interest in automotive. Castrol’s and Volvo’s investment could be seen as industry incumbents venturing to stay ahead of the game and maintain leadership positions. Denso and Magna are both tier 1 suppliers to whom the current OEMs and newcomers will look to deliver the pieces of the autonomous vehicle jigsaw. Peloton looks like a very interesting piece of the jigsaw. UPS has a big stake in the future of industrial transportation and logistics.
Amidst all the hoo-ha in the passenger vehicle market, with the big brands (and newbies) outbidding each other with promises to introduce the first fully autonomous passenger vehicle, Peloton may provide two useful lessons for venture investors: there will be plenty of opportunity in commercialising technologies for the semi-autonomous vehicle, and it’s industrial transportation, rather than passenger transportation, will probably lead the way towards more autonomy and eventually full autonomy.
On December 1st 2016, the world’s leading corporate VCs will gather in London for ‘Venturing and the future of mobility and automotive technology’ – www.gcvautomotive.com Then in January at the Global Corporate Venturing and Innovation Summit in California, transportation will be high on the agenda, in both the main programme and break-out sessions. To get involved, please contact me on tom.whitehouse@london-eif.com