Jaguar Land Rover invests in autonomous taxi startup InMotion

Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital arm InMotion Ventures has announced its follow-on investment into autonomous vehicle manufacturer Voyage. The investment is part of a $31m (£25m) Series B fundraise, led by Franklin Templeton, with participation from Khosla Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures. It brings the total capital raised to $52m (41m).

Voyage will use the fresh funding to bring its technology to commercialization, grow its team, expand its fleet of G2 self-driving cars, and introduce its G3 self-driving car. Founded in 2017, Voyage is developing autonomous vehicle technology for communities with limited transportation options. The company’s first driverless product is designed to ensure a viable option to move independently within a community, beginning with a self-driving car that can travel point-to-point within communities at speeds up to 25mph. So far, the company has been trialling its products in retirement communities in California and Florida, with 4,000 and 125,000 residents respectively, it said. The company has been experiencing a phase of rapid growth since its inception, having grown its headcount by 300 percent since its Series A in January 2018. Its new hires include CTO Drew Gray, previously of Uber ATG, Otto, Cruise, and Tesla and director of autonomy Davide Bacchet, also previously of Tesla. The company has also deployed its waitlist to communities containing over 1.1 million residents. “Since investing in the company’s Series A in 2018, it’s been fantastic to watch the business go from strength to strength,” said Sebastian Peck, Managing Director, InMotion Ventures. “The company has made some incredible hires which have been instrumental in enabling the development of Voyage’s state-of-the-art technology. “We’re excited to continue working with Oliver Cameron and his world-class team at Voyage. They’ve shown us that they have the capability to quickly make self-driving, autonomous taxis in residential communities a reality, sooner than anyone would have thought.”

Image: Source; InMotion