Ridecell Expands Series B Equity Round and Increases Funding to Over $60M
Expansion into Autonomous Ridehailing Sparks Additional Top-Tier Investor Interest
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 13, 2018 /CNW/ -- Ridecell Inc., a leading carsharing, ridesharing and autonomous ridehailing platform for new mobility operators, announced that it has expanded its Series B equity investment round. The new investments have more than doubled the capital raised in the initial Series B round—$28M announced in May—to more than $60M.
The complete Series B round is now being led by Activate Capital, and Raj Atluru, Managing Director and Co-founder of the firm, will join the company's board as the first outside director. In addition to Activate, new Ridecell investors include Munich Re Venture's ERGO Fund, LG Technology Ventures, BNP Paribas, Sony Innovation Fund, Ally Ventures and Khosla Ventures, as well as additional investment from DENSO. These investors join Cox Automotive, Initialized Capital, DENSO, Penske, Deutsche Bahn and Mitsui who were announced in May as Series B investors.
"Investor interest in cloud-based mobility platforms and autonomous vehicles increases almost daily as the disruptive potential of these new technologies are realized," said Aarjav Trivedi, CEO of Ridecell. "At Ridecell we continue to achieve important milestones on our path to autonomous mobility, including our recent California licensing, which allows on-road operational testing of our fully autonomous Auro-equipped self-driving vehicles. The Ridecell platform now supports driver-operated and autonomous on-demand vehicle services using a single cloud-based solution."
Ridecell investors represent the most important and strategically relevant segments of the transportation industry. These include automotive electronics manufacturers, vehicle fleet managers, automotive software and hardware integrators, vehicle financers/insurers, and transportation providers. In addition, to equity investment, these partners offer Ridecell critical insight into the transportation market and strategic components of a wide-ranging mobility ecosystem.
"We are excited to announce our investment in Ridecell and to join a terrific set of strategic investors inside the company," commented Raj Atluru. "We believe that transportation is being disrupted in fundamental ways and across multiple dimensions, all at once. With growing global urbanization, mobility services are replacing personal car ownership and fleets will increasingly be electrified and autonomous. Ridecell's platform connects and enables the entire ecosystem of participants required to deliver on this promise. We are investing at the very center of the new mobility revolution."
The new funds raised will be used for the continued development of Ridecell's mobility and operations platform that supports use cases ranging from carsharing to completely autonomous ridehailing.
About Ridecell
Ridecell is on a mission to empower new mobility operators, including OEMs, car rental companies, auto clubs, cities, transit agencies, dealer groups, and private fleets to launch, expand, and maximize the utilization of their own ridesharing and carsharing services. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company provides a new mobility cloud platform for carsharing, ridesharing and autonomous ridehailing. End-to-end integration and automation accelerate time-to-market, enabling Ridecell customers to launch mobility services quickly, operate efficiently, and scale revenues as business grows. Through its acquisition of Auro, Ridecell also provides a comprehensive suite of L4 on-vehicle software, sensors and controls that enable autonomous vehicle operation.
Founded in 2009, Ridecell has already processed over 25 million rides and rentals, and has a team of more than 120 professionals in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Ridecell's Series B round is led by Activate Capital and brings together prominent investors including DENSO, Cox Automotive, Munich Re Venture's ERGO Fund, Initialized Capital, LG Technology Ventures, BNP Paribas, Penske, Deutsche Bahn, Mitsui, Sony Innovation Fund, Ally Ventures and Khosla Ventures.
The company now powers new mobility offerings, including ReachNow, mobility service from the BMW Group, ZITY by Groupe Renault and Ferrovial, and GIG Carsharing service by AAA. In addition, Ridecell powers dynamic shuttle services for campuses such as Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, UCSF, 3M, and transit agencies like SouthWest Transit.
About Activate Capital
Activate Capital (www.activatecp.com) is a leading late-stage venture and growth equity firm focused on innovation across the digital industrial economy. With offices in San Francisco and suburban Philadelphia, the firm partners with entrepreneurial management teams in high growth companies using technology to transform large industrial markets, making the world more efficient, intelligent and sustainable. The partners have collectively invested over $1 billion across their target sectors, resulting in 30 successful exits through IPO and M&A.
©2018 Ridecell is a registered trademark of Ridecell, Inc. Other brand names may be trademarks of their respective owner(s). Information is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved.
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