SoftBank backs autonomous vehicle maker ASI with $230M
What's the deal? SoftBank GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has invested $225 million into Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Utah company whose software makes work vehicles drive themselves. The two have also formed a joint venture to build self-driving machines for large road, rail, and airport projects.
What's the endgame? ASI's main product is Mobius, software that runs fleets of self-driving work vehicles. The company says it works with machines from any major maker, so builders can automate the mixed equipment they already own.
ASI will use the money to sell more widely across the building trade. Chief executive Mel Torrie said the partners want to work with firms that build roads, airports, and railways, as well as waste sites.
"Together, we offer automated OEM-agnostic heavy equipment solutions that let customers deploy mixed fleets of haul trucks, dozers, loaders, compactors, and more," Torrie said.
The other half of the deal: SoftBankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is separately funding a joint venture focused on civil construction and moving materials on site. The venture's size, ownership split, and name were not disclosed.
Who is ASI? Founded in 2000 by engineers who spun out research from Utah State University, the company is based in Mendon, Utah, with a test site of more than 80 hectares. It also has offices in Salt Lake City, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Longmont, Colorado.
Its technology is already used on farms and building sites, and in logistics and landscaping.
The signal: The deal ranks among the largest late-stage rounds of its kind, sitting in the 96th percentile for US late VC rounds in its sector. It also marks SoftBank's second bet on autonomous heavy machinery in months — in August, it led US$129.4M round for Gravis Robotics, a Swiss startup that fits excavators with self-driving software.
Read more: thenextweb.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
