Kodiak Robotics Raises $125M Series B to Advance Self-Driving Trucks

It has already been a busy month for autonomous truck developers, with Einride expanding its U.S. operations and Plus calling off its planned SPAC merger. Kodiak Robotics Inc. today announced that it has raised $125 million in an “oversubscribed” Series B fundraising round for a total of $165 million raised to date. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it plans to use its latest investment to continue its aggressive growth plans.

“Our Series B drives us into hyper-growth so we can double our team, our fleet, and continue to scale our business,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics. “We have engineered our industry-leading technology, the Kodiak Driver, in half the time and a fraction of the cost of our competitors.”

“The supply chain challenges we have seen over the last 18 months only underscore the importance of autonomous trucking to the future of America's economy,” he added. “With the Series B, we will further accelerate towards launching our commercial self-driving service with our partners in the coming years to help address these critical challenges.”

Self-driving trucks designed for long-haul freight

Founded in 2018, Kodiak Robotics said it has “developed the industry's most advanced technology stack purpose-built specifically for long-haul trucks.” The company said it is building and operating self-driving trucks designed to operate on highway routes with the goal of making the freight industry safer and more efficient.

Since 2019, Kodiak has delivered freight for customers between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, Texas. Its trucks operate autonomously on the highway portion of the route. The company said it hauls freight daily for a range of industry partners, including some of the nation's largest carriers and brands.

In January, Kodiak claimed to be the first autonomous trucking company to conduct disengage-free customer deliveries, and it released footage of more than 1,000 miles of disengagement-free driving. 

Also this year, the company unveiled its next-generation autonomous trucks, which use a modular and discrete sensor approach to simplify installation and maintenance while increasing safety.

Kodiak to double headcount, robotruck fleet

SIP Global Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, CRV, Muirwoods Ventures, Harpoon Ventures, StepStone Group, Gopher Asset Management, Walleye Capital, Aliya Capital Partners, and others participated in Kodiak's Series B round.

Bridgestone Americas and BMW i Ventures previously invested in the company. Cowen served as exclusive placement agent to Kodiak Robotics.

Kodiak Robotics said it will use the Series B funds over the next 12 months to double employee headcount by adding at least 85 people to its team. The company will also expand autonomous service capabilities from coast to coast and add a minimum of 15 new trucks to its fleet for a total of at least 25 autonomous vehicles.