Top 5 Startups Researching in the Autonomous Driving

The autonomous or self-driving industry is witnessing a lot of innovation by startups.

Despite big automakers and technology companies involved in the industry, it is the startups coming up with new innovations and making their mark in the industry. In fact, they’re so good, big players in – and those trying to enter into – the domain are acquiring them to get an edge, and provide a better self-driving experience to its customers.

Zoox’s recent acquisition by Amazon is a good example. Besides, tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Baidu, and Tencent have also shown involvement in the autonomous vehicle domain either by acquiring a startup or investing in it.

A startup can bolster a company’s position in an industry to a great extent. Amazon’s latest acquisition of Zoox for $1.2 billion created fear among the industry players and its competitors.

However, despite paying over a billion, Amazon got the Zoox deal at a comparatively low price. The valuation of Zoox was over 3 billion dollars. So what made Zoox agree to a deal for ⅓ of its valuation?

The answer perhaps lies in slow progress and the fear of running out of money.

You see, there are two things that a startup doesn’t have much when compared to a corporation – money and time. And in the self-driving industry, you require both, and that too to a great extent.

Waymo, which is considered a leader in the domain, despite early research and a lot of processes is still operating in a small metro area in Phoenix for quite some time. Despite millions of miles of test driving, Waymo is far from providing an actual self-driving service.

Let alone startups who are running out of cash and investors getting skeptical with the passage of time. Add to it, COVID-19 affecting businesses worldwide, the industry is heavily impacted. While the future might seem bright for driverless, cost cuts in form of R&D Spending, investment, model lines, and staff reduction mean there is an entire storm to weather for AV players before things get better.

In these times, it is a good choice for a startup to get acquired if given the option. Additionally, for the big players, now is the best time to make acquisitions.

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We have assimilated the top 5 autonomous vehicle startups considered THE BEST in researching autonomous driving technology.

We formulated this list taking into account various criteria, including funding amount, investors, series funding, and patented inventions. Without any further ado, let’s examine these top autonomous vehicle startups.

1. Argo AI

Before we talk about what the wise people at Argo AI do, let’s take a moment to appreciate the witty name of their company. In Greek mythology, Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed to get the Golden Fleece.

Makes one say, “I know what you did there”.

Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, after having worked in the Google and Uber automated driving programs co-founded Argo AI in 2016.

Argo has created the whole self-driving system, including the software and hardware computing platforms, maps, cameras, sensors, radar, cloud-support infrastructure, and light detection and ranging radar.

While the company is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it has offices in Detroit, Palo Alto, Cranbury, NJ, and Munich, Germany. Having offices across the US and in Germany explains its patent filing in the respective countries (and also because of its partnership with Volkswagen).

Argo claims its technology will deliver Level 4-capable Self-Driving Systems and in 2019 they successfully introduced its third-generation test vehicle, based on the Ford Fusion Hybrid, which incorporates higher-resolution cameras with wider dynamic ranges, increased computer processing power, and heating and cooling systems improvements.

Acquisitions

In 2017, Argo AI acquired Princeton Lightwave, a startup known for its Geiger-mode LiDAR sensors. Princeton’s sensor is based around Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (APD) which is the component that actually detects the photons that bounce back off objects around the sensor. Most other lidar makers use linear-mode APDs. Argo even filed patents on the technology, naturally using Princeton Lightwave expertise.

“Princeton Lightwave has tuned its sensor so that even with the extra-sensitivity it won’t be blinded by the sun. The higher frequency of the pulses should also help the sensor to see better through conditions like rain or snow.“, said Bryan Salesky, CEO of Argo AI.

Patent Insights

Argo has filed 18 patent applications in the US in which 7 of them got granted. Argo AI has even filed patents in Germany, Britain, and China.

Though Argo has a very low number of patents, for a startup these might be enough to attract big players to consider it.

Argo started patent filing in 2016 with 3 patents. In 2018, Argo AI filed 10 patent applications hinting the research was at max. It has patents related to LiDAR, Ride-hailing, User comfort, Sensor Management, etc.

Investments

Volkswagen has committed $1 billion in capital to Argo AI and will also purchase its shares from Ford for $500 million over three years. Ford will invest the remaining $600 million of its previously announced $1 billion cash commitment in Argo AI.

In June 2020, Argo was valued at $7.25 billion.

Partnerships

In June 2017 Argo partnered with Carnegie Mellon University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to research computer vision and machine learning technologies.
Argo also announced a $15 million investment over five years to create the Carnegie Mellon University Argo AI Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research. Their research will be focused on advanced algorithms for autonomous vehicles, specifically for advanced perception and decision-making capabilities.

2. Nuro

Nuro’s focus on transporting goods, not humans, sets it apart from other autonomous vehicle companies.

One of the most worrisome aspects of driverless vehicles is the risk to human lives inside and outside the car. Nuro eliminates this problem by being a slow-driving, last-mile delivery service vehicle.

This makes Nuro a manless vehicle in its truest sense.

This also means that Nuro can cruise over a rumble street and apply jolting breaks when something comes in its way without worry. Something that other companies are working hard to solve. “A lot of those problems can be solved when you remove the passenger,” says co-founder Dave Ferguson. “The pizza doesn’t care if you’re going a little slower.”

Nuro was also the first company to receive a two-year autonomous exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because it carried goods rather than humans.

Perhaps this extraordinary way of thinking brought Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson together. Both worked at Google’s self-driving car project, Waymo, before starting Nuro in September 2016.

Soon after, Nuro launched its first generation of cars in 2018, called the R1, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The R1 is an electric self-driving local commerce delivery vehicle that weighs 1500 pounds.

R1 has package-online cargo space that can hold up to 20 bags, which clients who ordered them via a code on the smartphone app can retrieve. However, what’s cool is that the storage section can be switched with a heating or cooling section so that your pizza stays piping hot and your ice tea stays arctic cool.

Plus, who doesn’t look forward to getting deliveries from cars that look like a toaster on wheels.

“We tried to build a lot of flexibility into the R1’s compartment so we could serve all the applications that people will be able to think of,” Ferguson said. “A coffee machine is actually a pretty good one. If you go to your local barista, those machines are incredibly expensive. Amortizing them over an entire neighborhood makes sense.”

After launching R1 in February 2020, Nuro announced its plans to test its second-generation self-driving vehicles, R2, in Houston, Texas.

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