Ten million euros for driverless trucks

Fernride from Munich wants to make it possible to drive a truck without a driver in the cab. The start-up is now raising several million euros.

Fernride receives 7.1 million euros in its Series A financing round. The CTO of Blablacar, Olivier Bonnet, is a business angel. The Munich VC 10x Group, Speedinvest (including Tier and Wefox), the Berlin VC Fly Ventures, the US deep-tech fund Promus Ventures and the Initiative for Industrial Innovators, which is part of UnternehmerTUM founded by Susanne Klatten, have also invested. Fernride also receives funding for further research and has raised a total of more than ten million euros.

Fernride's vision sounds a bit like simulator games for the games console: Trucks without a driver in the cab - remote-controlled from the office - are to drive on the roads of the Republic. The Munich-based company has developed a retrofit kit to operate the gas pedal and brakes remotely. Twelve cameras will guarantee an all-round view for the driver in the control center. An AI is designed to support people and learn from them at the same time. As not all vehicles are in use at the same time, one person should be able to control up to 25 vehicles.

Fernride is initially advertising rides on the factory premises. Up to 100,000 vehicles will never leave the site, say the founders. These include forklift trucks and yard vehicles. Costs are said to be reduced by 85 percent because a person is no longer needed for each vehicle.