Thanks to a $474,287 grant from the state of Ohio, the University of Toledo (UToledo) will purchase new state-of-the-art equipment to train students in the areas of autonomous vehicle-sensing technologies, robotics and vision-based systems for automation.
The grant is part of $975,000 in funding in the region and $8 million across the state through the Department of Higher Education’s Regionally Aligned Priorities in Delivering Skills (RAPIDS) program for universities, community colleges and technical career centers to work together to improve education and job preparedness in different fields of strategic importance for Ohio employers.
Investment
Investment
Pony.ai raises $400 million from Toyota to advance development of autonomous driving tech
Autonomous driving company Pony.ai has raised $400 million from Toyota Motor Corporation, which will be used to advance the companies’ joint efforts in autonomous driving technology development and mobility service deployment. The new funding totals $462 million and puts Pony.ai’s valuation at just over $3 billion.
An extension of a business partnership that Pony.ai and Toyota established in 2019, the latest strategic investment will expand the partnership’s scope of collaboration, as the companies will not only co-develop autonomous driving technology, but they will also look beyond the vehicle itself to explore further possibilities on mobility services.
DGI awards North Carolina A&T State University $50,000 to prototype and deploy self-driving shuttles
Economic development organization Downtown Greensboro Inc. (DGI) has given North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University $50,000 to prototype and deploy two self-driving shuttles.
Application period for SBIR and STTR seed funding opens
As of Jan. 14, the application period for non-dilutive seed funding from the Department of Defense opens — the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
Application Period:
Jan. 14, 2020 – Feb. 12, 2020 (8 p.m.)
SBIR/STTR Application: https://sbir.defensebusiness.org/
New York Gov. Cuomo proposes investment to establish small UAS experimentation and test facility at Griffiss International Airport
On Sunday, Jan. 5, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled a proposal for a $9 million investment to establish a small UAS experimentation and test facility at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, Oneida County.
MiLA Capital invests in 'tech you can touch' including drone delivery company DASH Systems
Commercial UAS delivery company DASH Systems designs, manufactures and deploys low-cost one-way delivery UAS that operate in today's air logistics network.
A portfolio company at Los Angeles-based Venture Capital (VC) firm MiLA Capital, DASH Systems created a platform that enables goods to be delivered without landing an aircraft following the runway/infrastructure issue in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico two years ago, which made providing aid to the Caribbean island and unincorporated U.S. territory difficult.
Capable of being mounted to any commercial aircraft, helicopter or UAS, DASH Systems’ delivery UAS enable fast and rapid deployment into any environment.
PrecisionHawk to use latest funding to innovate software tool, accelerate sales initiatives
PrecisionHawk announced it has raised $32 million in its latest funding round, which it plans to use for several efforts, including the continued innovation of its software tool, PrecisionAnalytics, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help enterprises better use data collected by UAS to solve business challenges.
The financing will also be used to accelerate sales initiatives and further market expansion.
“This is an exciting time at PrecisionHawk and the commercial drone industry overall as adoption of drones continues to grow,” says Michael Chasen, CEO of PrecisionHawk.
Oklahoma State University drone program awarded $1.49 million grant
As part of its National Robotics Initiative 2.0 program, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) drone program a $1.49 million grant.
Awarded to OSU researchers He Bai, Rushikesh Kamalapurkar, Jamey Jacob and Matt Vance and former faculty member Balaji Jayaraman, the grant, which is the only grant of its kind awarded in Oklahoma, will be used to fund research that uses UAS technology to estimate wind conditions in differing environments.
Apex.AI, a developer of autonomous driving software, announces new investors
Autonomous driving software developer Apex.AI has announced its newest investors, which include Volvo Group Venture Capital, HELLA Ventures, and Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital arm InMotion Ventures.
Volvo Group and Jaguar Land Rover are both well established automotive manufacturers, while HELLA is an international supplier of automotive electronics and lighting.
“We are eager to leverage their deep expertise in the mobility industry to move Apex.AI forward,” says Apex.AI co-founder Jan Becker.
May Mobility to use latest funding for hiring, expanding vehicle fleet
Autonomous Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) provider May Mobility has announced that it has closed a $50 million Series B round.
Toyota Motor Corporation led the Series B round, and the automotive manufacturer has also selected May Mobility as one of its partners in the autonomous TaaS segment for future open mobility platforms.
To date, May Mobility has raised a total of $84 million. This latest funding round will be used for strategic hires across the engineering and operations functions, as well as to expand the company’s vehicle fleet to meet growing demand.
