NuTonomy raises $16m to launch ‘world’s 1st driverless taxi service’ in Singapore

NuTonomy, which develops software for self-driving cars, has raised US$16 million in series A funding with the aim of commercially launching autonomous taxis in Singapore by 2018.

Global venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners led the funding, while Samsung Ventures and EDBI, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, joined in. Existing investors Fontinalis Partners – co-founded by Ford Motor Co. chairman Bill Ford – and Signal Ventures also put in some cash for this round.

Like Uber and Grab, the taxi service is available through a smartphone.

Spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013 and headquartered in Boston, NuTonomy plans to offer a driverless taxi service where users can hail a ride via their smartphone just as they would with Grab and Uber. It is piloting a test fleet of autonomous taxis in Singapore, which will pave the way for a commercial rollout in two years.

Co-founder and CEO Karl Iagnemma says their latest round “will accelerate the pace of our progress in deploying self-driving vehicles in Singapore and beyond.”

Singapore has invested in a self-driving car prototypes, and promised to create the necessary infrastructure and regulations for companies in this space.

In 2014, it pilot tested driverless buggies in tourist locations such as the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, then last year it called for proposals from local and international firms on how self-driving technology can be put to work on public transportation services.

NuTonomy is racing many others with autonomous vehicle ambitions, including Tesla and Google, which have been at it for years. Just this week, Uber confirmed testing self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and even Chinese search company Baidu is working on its own smart car.

Apart from Singapore, NuTonomy is operating self-driving cars in Michigan and the UK, where it has partnerships with major automotive players such as Jaguar Land Rover. To date, the company has raised more than US$19 million in funding.