German startup Fernride raises $50 mln for self-driving freight trucks

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG

20/09/2023 09:00

By Nick Carey
       LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - German self-driving startup
Fernride said on Wednesday that it has raised $50 million in
Series A funding to increase the use of its "human-assisted"
autonomous freight trucks in customer's logistics yards. 
    The Munich-based startup had initially closed the funding
round with $31 million, but had extended it due to high investor
interest, the company said. 
    New investors include Munich Re's venture capital arm Munich
Re Ventures, Bavarian venture capital firm Bayern Kapital and
former Siemens Klaus Kleinfeld, who will become chairman of the
board at Fernride.
    Existing investors, including strategic investors HHLA
 HHFGn.DE  and Deutsche Bahn  DBN.UL  unit DB Schenker also
participated in the funding round. 
    Developing fully-autonomous vehicles that can go everywhere
has proven harder and more expensive than expected.
    But while many investors have backed off big bets on
robotaxi and autonomous highway truck freight startups, they are
and still funding startups targeting simpler self-driving
vehicle solutions far removed from pedestrians.
    Fernride CEO Hendrik Kramer said the startup is currently
running tests with a small fleet of trucks for key customers
including Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE , DB Schenker and HHLA - all in
confined, privately-owned areas at speeds of under 30 kilometres
(18.6 miles) per hour. 
    Hamburg port operator HHLA, for instance, is using
autonomous vehicles at the port to move containers, while
Volkswagen is using them to haul semi-finished goods within its
production facilities.
    Fernride's trucks currently operate autonomously around 80%
of the time, then remote human operators to step in to help the
remainder of the time.
    "Our hypothesis that you shouldn't pursue full autonomy, but
a very high level of autonomy is very good ... and requires a
human in the loop," Kramer said.
    As the technology improves, Fernride's trucks will be
gradually be able to operate autonomously more of the time and
the company's customers will eventually start adding use cases
outside yard operations, Kramer said.
    

 (Reporting By Nick Carey; editing by David Evans)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7385 414 954;))