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Autonomous Vehicle Funding Stuck In Neutral

Nov 03, 2023 - news.crunchbase.com
The autonomous vehicle sector is facing a decline in funding, with startups raising less than $4.5 billion this year, the lowest since 2020. The decline is attributed to incidents such as Cruise suspending its self-driving taxi program after losing its permit due to a pedestrian incident, and Ford Motor-backed Argo AI closing down after raising $3.6 billion. Furthermore, SoftBank did not release a promised $1.35 billion to Cruise, leading to General Motors acquiring SoftBank’s equity ownership stake in Cruise for $2.1 billion.

Despite the overall decline, some companies like Stack AV have managed to raise significant funding. However, investors are generally pulling back from the sector, with automakers like Ford and Volkswagen showing more interest in developing the technology internally. The future of autonomous vehicles remains uncertain as both automakers and venture capitalists are shifting gears.

Key takeaways:

  • Cruise has suspended its self-driving taxi program across the country after losing its permit to operate in San Francisco due to an incident with a pedestrian.
  • Funding for autonomous driving startups has been decreasing, with the sector on pace for its lowest funding total since 2020.
  • Despite some big funding rounds, investors seem to be pulling back from the autonomous driving sector, with automakers more willing to develop technology internally than invest in startups.
  • Autonomous vehicles are seen as the future, but investment is currently hard to come by as both automakers and venture capitalists are shifting gears.
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