Munich-based VC investor 10x is leading the financing for Fernride. Promus Ventures, Blablacar CTO Olivier Bonnet, and existing investors Speedinvest, UnternehmerTUM, and Fly Ventures are also participating in the round. The startup is now funded with more than €10 million. The fresh capital will allow the team to grow from its current 30 to 60 employees. Felix Haas, Partner at Investor 10x, says:
"In terms of potential, Fernride is in the same league as our previous early-stage investments, such as Volocopter or Luminar. I already consider the team one of the strongest in Europe. I am convinced that Hendrik and his team will make a decisive contribution on the path to autonomous driving. We are proud to support Fernride on this journey."
Fernride: One employee should be able to remotely control 50 trucks
Fully autonomous logistics vehicles are still a long way from practical use. Fernride aims to bridge the gap by combining existing autonomous technology with human teleoperators. Human personnel will take over remote control of the semi-autonomous vehicles in situations where AI reaches its limits.
The startup equips vehicles with the necessary technology and connects them to its teleoperations center. Teleoperators sit at a computer workstation modeled on a vehicle cockpit and intervene in critical moments. In the medium term, one teleoperator should be able to support fleets of up to 50 autonomous vehicles.
The Munich-based company is initially focusing on standardized transport on company premises such as ports and logistics terminals. According to the company, more than 100,000 trucks are currently in operation in such environments in Europe, which can be operated driverlessly using Fernride technology.
Hendrik Kramer, co-founder and CEO of Fernride, says about the investment:
"Fernride is building the leading platform for driverless logistics services. We are delighted to use this investment to further develop our teleoperations technology and expand our team. This will enable more and more companies to implement driverless logistics processes today. We have strong partners from the logistics industry as well as leading vehicle manufacturers on our side. With this investment, we can quickly bring our vision of driverless logistics to the road."
