May Mobility raises $50 million in Series B funding led by Toyota

May Mobility had raised close to $22 million less than a year ago

The company will increase its number of fleets along with enhancing operations

May Mobility- a Michigan headquartered autonomous shuttle service startup operating in three major cities in the U.S., has reportedly raised USD 50 million in Series B funding round which was led by Toyota Motor Corp.

With the latest funding, the company will look to expand its every aspect including its fleet of AV shuttle and its operations and engineering staff.

Reportedly, May Mobility owns nearly 25 autonomous low-speed shuttles operating between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan and Providence, Rhode Islands.

According to Alisyn Malek, Co-founder and COO, May Mobility, the company is targeting up to 25 vehicles per city. Increased fleet size will enhance the economic picture for the startup and will meaningfully influence the transportation in the city.

Additionally, the collaboration aims at working towards identifying market opportunities. May Mobility will be one of the key partners for Toyota in developing and bringing self-driving platforms out to the market.

In other recent developments, Toyota was to acquire a 4.9% share in Suzuki, valued at more than USD 908 million, while Suzuki had agreed to invest approximately $454 million in Toyota, under a new partnership deal.

For the record, May Mobility and Toyota have not disclosed information regarding the partnership. However, the two are likely to combine the startup’s autonomous vehicle technology with Toyota’s e-Palette, a platform introduced by the automobile giant in the year 2018 at the annual tech trade show- CES convention held in Las Vegas.

e-Palette was introduced as a concept vehicle and is primarily designed for flexibility. The platform will be equipped with autonomous vehicle technology and may be used as a shuttle, to deliver packages to customers or can be used as a moving mobile shop.

Source Credits: https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/04/toyota-leads-50-million-investment-in-autonomous-shuttle-startup-may-mobility/

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