Peloton Technology, an automated vehicle technology company focused on trucking, is on the verge of closing a $60 million Series B funding round led by Omnitracs, a fleet services company that spun out of Qualcomm.
The round includes existing investors Intel Capital, DENSO International America, Castrol innoVentures, Lockheed Martin, Nokia Growth Partners, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Volvo Group Capital, Sandhill Angels, Band of Angels and Birchmere Ventures, Peloton Technology CEO and co-founder Josh Switkes confirmed to Coins2Day on Wednesday.
New investors include Grupo Bimbo, Mitsui, Okaya, Schlumberger and US Ventures.
The Silicon Valley startup previously raised $18 million, bringing its total funding to date to $78 million.
Peloton Technology has developed a driver assistance system for commercial trucks using a combination of sensors, radar, and technology that allows the vehicles to communication with each other and surrounding infrastructure. The system is designed to let trucks safely platoon, an industry term that mean the vehicles can closely follow a lead truck to reduce wind resistance, which boosts fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. Despite the benefits of platooning, the practice is considered dangerous because human drivers can’t react quickly enough to sudden braking.
An automated system should remove that risk. Peloton Technology says independent testing shows the trucks following the leader see a 10% bump in fuel savings.
Some of the new capital will be used to help the company scale up as it prepares bring its platooning system to market later this year, Switkes said.
The platooning system is just the first step for Peloton, Switkes added. The next steps will be to add increasing levels of automation to add more safety, fuel efficiency and operational efficiency for these fleet customers, he said.
