Peloton Technology Secures $60M on the Road to Automation
Apr 12, 2017 | News, Smart Mobility
Peloton Technology, a connected and automated vehicle technology company dedicated to improving the safety and efficiency of freight transportation, today announced the closing of a $60 million Series B funding round. Omnitracs, a global pioneer of fleet management solutions, led the round, which also included existing investors Intel Capital, DENSO International America, BP Ventures, Lockheed Martin, Nokia Growth Partners, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Volvo Group, Sand Hill Angels, Band of Angels and Birchmere Ventures along with new investors B37 Ventures, Mitsui USA, Okaya, Schlumberger, US Venture and Breakthrough Fuel.
"We are excited to be working with a growing group of leading companies from across the industry as well as forward-looking state and federal regulators to bring pragmatic, driver-assistive truck automation solutions to market," said Josh Switkes, co-founder and CEO of Peloton. "This new round of global strategic investment bolsters Peloton's position as the leading provider of near-term automated truck technology in North America and soon beyond."
Commercial Truck Fleet Focus
Peloton has raised a total of $78 million since inception. Series B funds will fuel Peloton's growth plans, including the rollout of the world's first commercial two-truck driver-assistive platooning system later in 2017, as well as development of more advanced automation solutions.
Peloton's flagship platooning system empowers drivers and trucking fleets to address three major industry challenges of safety, fuel savings and operational efficiency by delivering new tools, capabilities and data.
"Peloton has taken an innovative and disciplined approach in combining vehicle connectivity and driver-assistive automation technologies to offer immediate value to trucking fleets," said Larry Burns, Peloton board member and former vice president of research and development and strategic planning at General Motors. "Peloton's truck platooning product helps fleets and drivers to improve safety, fuel efficiency and operations today while setting the stage for transformational trucking improvements in the future."
Several US-based Fortune 500 fleets plan to trial the system within the next year. At the same time, Peloton and Series B lead investor Omnitracs will expand cross-fleet platooning opportunities by integrating the system with the Omnitracs Intelligent Vehicle Gateway telematics platform and developing new joint telematics solutions.
"The transportation industry is going through a massive change," said Omnitracs CEO John Graham. "Macro-level trends like the Internet of Things, cognitive applications, faster delivery of goods and new levels of customer service are at the core of our new partnership with Peloton. We want to expand the possibilities of truck automation on the nation's highways and set new standards in integrated dispatch, tracking and routing as well as driver-facing applications to maximize and optimize the orchestration of both same-fleet and cross-fleet platooning."
Vehicle and Technology Industry Collaboration
Boosted by the new investment, Peloton is accelerating vehicle integration projects with several truck OEMs, including Volvo Trucks North America, a part of investor Volvo Group, as well as Tier 1 brake system and connected-vehicle suppliers. The Peloton investor mix includes a variety of leading global companies, enabling Peloton to collaborate extensively to bring its solutions to international markets. Intel, a co-leader on Peloton's 2015 Series A round, announced in November 2016 that it will invest $250M in automated driving solutions.
"Making cars and trucks safer and more efficient with increasing levels of active safety equipment is critically important to the global economy," said Kathy Winter, vice president, Automated Driving Division, Intel. "Advanced driver assistance solutions such as Peloton's, that are based on scalable, secure computing platforms are a key element on the path to fully autonomous driving."
About Peloton Technology Peloton is a connected and automated vehicle technology company dedicated to improving the safety and efficiency of U.S. and global freight transportation. Backed by ten Fortune Global 500 companies, Silicon Valley-based Peloton partners with customers to deliver innovative tools that save fuel, avoid crashes, and improve operational insight through connectivity, automation and advanced data analytics. Peloton's flagship driver-assistive platooning system links the active safety systems of pairs of trucks, and connects them to a cloud-based Network Operations Center that limits platooning to appropriate roads and conditions. Peloton solutions also improve the safety of individual trucks by requiring best-in-class forward collision avoidance systems and other safety features that are active both in and out of platoon. For more information, visit www.peloton-tech.com and follow Peloton on Twitter @pelotontech.
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