Bestmile Announces Funding to Fuel Strategic Growth in Autonomous Mobility
Bestmile has announced it has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by Road Ventures SA with participation from Partech Ventures, Groupe ADP, Airbus Ventures, Serena Capital and MobilityFund. This investment will power the company’s global expansion, strengthen its mobility cloud platform technology, and extend its customer relationships with service providers, strategic OEMs and technology partners.
“We are bullish in the mobility services market and see Bestmile as a disruptive force to not only transform the current human-driven environment, but also autonomous vehicle fleets,” said Patrice Crisinel, managing director of Road Ventures SA.
“Based on the company’s proven mobility service technology, commercial deployments in European cities and strategic projects in the U.S., it was a no-brainer to support such a true innovator in the field once again,” said Reza Malekzadeh, general partner of Partech Ventures in San Francisco.
Bestmile’s Mobility Services Platform enables the intelligent operation and optimization of autonomous vehicle fleets, regardless of their brand or type, for both fixed-route and on-demand service types. The platform offers features such as fleet and resource management, mobility service operations and optimization, business back office support and data intelligence. The company’s platform also provides front-end and back-end interfaces for operators and travelers, including control center dashboards, mobile and web applications and APIs. The company’s expansion to ridehailing will offer flexibility to customers with the operation of hybrid fleets comprised of human-driven and autonomous vehicles to support mobility providers’ transition to autonomous mobility.
“Over the next several years, mobility services will experience a transitional phase where autonomous and human-driven vehicles will coexist within the same fleets,” said Raphael Gindrat, CEO of Bestmile. “New micro-transit services will develop into the transportation ecosystem as well. This large opportunity in a booming market, coupled with our innovative technology, are major reasons why so many prestigious investors are backing Bestmile.”
Bestmile works with mobility service providers, including Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), public transit agencies, transportation operators, and private communities and campuses. The company will expand its micro-transit on-demand services, as well as its multi-modal services with existing transportation systems, operators and cities. Bestmile is also continuing to build strong partnerships with vehicle manufacturers and automotive OEMs. The company has notably worked with Navya, EasyMile, Local Motors, and partnered with Paravan, Next Future Transportation, Hi-tech Robotic Systemz among others.
“Local Motors is dedicated to the future of mobility through its innovative autonomous vehicles that are accessible to everyone. As a strategic partner, Bestmile’s mobility service platform enables us to offer an integrated solution to transportation operators,” said Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors.
The operation of hybrid fleets will be the cornerstone of the autonomous mobility revolution. How efficiently autonomous mobility services are managed and integrated into the existing transportation ecosystem will directly impact the speed of adoption of autonomous vehicles worldwide.
