TOP 8 SELF-DRIVING STARTUPS TO WATCH IN 2018 AND 2019 Posted on : Aug 25 - 2018

The automobile industry has never taken a break from innovating since the debut of the Motorwagen, the world’s first car. Automakers are continuously attempting to make their vehicles faster, safer, and more comfortable. To make driving more comfortable car manufacturers looked to automation technologies to make driving less tedious. To start with, (Level 1) automation enhanced the quality of driving using technologies like cruise control. Taking things a step further, cars began to feature assisted steering and acceleration (Level 2). Going even further, cars included LiDAR sensors that take care of monitoring operations (Level 3). The next level (Level 4) of car automation took complete control over steering, accelerating, braking, and monitoring but still required a driver to maneuver it under conditions like traffic jams. Today, we’re on the brink of the ultimate in automated driving that requires zero human intervention from start to end (Level 5). Today’s self-driving cars don’t need pedals, brakes, gear levers, a steering wheel, or even the driver’s seat. These vehicles can independently handle the most complex traffic jams and ensure its passengers reach their destination without breaking a sweat. Here is a list of the top eight dynamic full-stack self-driving startups that are successfully making autonomous vehicles a reality today.

Zoox

Zoox is working on building its bidirectional autonomous car for ride-hailing services. Founded in 2014, Zoox has managed to become one of the more well-established self-driving startups, raising $500 million and is currently valued at $3.2 billion. Zoox was very secretive about its projects. However, the company recently did an interview with Bloomberg where they showed off their self-driving robot taxi.

Their self-driving taxi is a bidirectional, all-electric and fully autonomous vehicle. It doesn’t have a steering wheel or a dashboard. The interior has two bench seats that face each other. The looks are nothing to brag about, but for an early prototype, they’re exclusively focused on the driving prowess of their robot taxi than its looks.

Though Zoox’s secretive nature helps in protecting their designs from being copied, they still have the disadvantage of missing out on customer feedback. Companies like Waymo and NuTonomy grew by learning from customer feedback and their tests with the general public. Companies like AImotive and Roadstar.ai also seem to be very focused on rolling out their robotaxi. Zoox undoubtedly has healthy competition.

However, the autonomous vehicle industry experts and those who follow self-driving startups believe that Zoox is headed for something big. According to Bloomberg, Zoox is will publicly deploy its self-driving taxis by 2020.

Pony.ai

Founded in 2016, Pony.ai is positioning itself as one of the most interesting self-driving startups to watch. The 2-year-old startup has hit the elusive $1 billion valuation, reaching unicorn status.

Pony.ai raised $112 million this January in its first round of funding. It raised another $102 million in the second round of financing in July. The company is likely to use the new capital to expand its autonomous vehicle fleet. View More