The BMW investment arm BMW i Ventures has announced its support of Kodiak Robotics, a developer of self-driving long-haul trucking technology.
The BMW i Ventures investment funds will help Kodiak expand its team and fleet, as well as continue to develop its self-driving technology purpose-built for long-haul trucks.
Kodiak is led by a team of autonomous driving veterans who hail from Google’s original self-driving team, Uber, Lyft and more. The company delivers freight daily in Texas, and also tests in California. The Kodiak Driver autonomous stack incorporates numerous autonomous trucking-specific innovations including its lightweight mapping technology. These maps allow Kodiak to update route changes – like road construction – on the go without having to halt freight deliveries.
“The Kodiak Driver is one of the most advanced technology stacks in autonomous trucking, and has made tremendous strides towards driverless deployment,” said Kasper Sage, partner, BMW i Ventures.
“Industry observers believe self-driving trucks will be one of the first commercially viable applications of autonomous technology and we look forward to working with Kodiak in the coming years to put self-driving trucks on the road.”
The news follows hot on the heels of an investment from Bridgestone Americas, in a move that will see the tire maker integrate a number of smart-sensing tire technologies and fleet solutions into Kodiak’s Level 4 autonomous trucks.