Ex-Apple engineer raises $51M to build cabless self-driving trucks
What's the deal? Humble RoboticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a San Francisco startup building electric self-driving trucks without driver cabs, has raised $51 million. Obvious Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Eclipse Ventures and Energy Impact PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, bringing total funding to $75 million. The company declined to disclose its valuation.
What's the endgame? Founder and chief executive officer Eyal Cohen — who worked on Apple's self-driving car project, Uber's autonomous driving effort, and trucking startup Waabi — is betting that building the truck and its self-driving system together beats retrofitting vehicles designed for humans. Humble is targeting regional routes under 250 miles that link ports, warehouses, and distribution centers.
That focus tracks the freight market: 87% of goods shipped by truck in the US by weight traveled less than 250 miles in 2021, according to federal data.
Why now? The raise lands amid renewed investor interest in autonomous trucking. GatikDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → raised $200 million in August, Einride secured a $113 million PIPE in February, and Waabi closed $1 billion in January.
What's next? Customer pilots begin in the first quarter of 2027, using conventional trucks to collect data before Humble simulates routes and deploys its own vehicle, the Humble Hauler. Cohen expects commercial operations to start in the third quarter of 2027.
What could go wrong? Humble has yet to move freight commercially. It holds a California permit to test with a safety driver but needs further regulatory clearance before testing driverless or running commercial service in the state.
Cohen frames the trucks as a fix for an industry that struggles to recruit and retain drivers. "Our trucks can do a 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. shift that nobody wants to do," he said, adding that automation could free drivers for "higher-value work."
The signal: Rivals are already on the road — AuroraDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → runs driverless freight in Texas, and Kodiak AI plans to haul Ikea cargo cablessly by year's end. Humble's full redesign is more ambitious than a retrofit, but its significance hinges on proving that approach works reliably and economically in real freight operations.
Read more: Business Insider
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
