Ann Arbor-based autonomous shuttle startup May Mobility raises $50 million

Toyota Motor Corp. leads Series B round funding

ANN ARBORMay Mobility, known for its green autonomous shuttles, has raised $50 million in a recent Series B round.

Led by Toyota Motor Corp., the funding comes 10 months after the startup raised $22 million. That brings the total funds raised to date to $83.6 million following successful seed and Series A rounds.

According to May Mobility, the money will be used to expand its operations and engineering staff as well as its AV shuttle fleet.

Twenty-five of May Mobility’s autonomous shuttles are currently running in three U.S. cities: Detroit, Grand Rapids and Providence, Rhode Island. The company’s co-founder and COO Alisyn Malek told TechCrunch that the startup hopes to expand to 25 vehicles in each city.

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In Grand Rapids and Providence, riders can hop on for free. The six-seat, low speed shuttles run on pre-programmed loops. Although the vehicles are self-driving, operators are on board at all times to ensure safety.

The startup, which launched in 2017 as a spin-off from the University of Michigan, said that Toyota has selected it as one of its “autonomous driving providers for future open platforms.” According to TechCrunch, while details of the partnership have not been shared, it’s clear Toyota sees May Mobility’s technology as an asset to its long-term transit platform e-Palette, which was unveiled in 2018.

Related reading:

Ann Arbor’s May Mobility raises $22 million to deploy driverless shuttles across US

Ann Arbor’s May Mobility to run Rhode Island’s first self-driving shuttle service