Starsky Robotics

Starsky Robotics was an autonomous truck company founded in 2016. It developed trucks to drive without a person in the vehicle. The company started in 2015 and had raised $21.7 million by 2018. It failed to find further investors in November 2019, and shut down by March 2020.[1]

Starsky Robotics
TypePrivate
IndustryAutonomous robotics (robotics, manufacturing, logistics)
Founded2016
DefunctMarch 19, 2020 (2020-03-19)
HeadquartersSan Francisco
Key people
  • Stefan Seltz-Axmacher
    (CEO, co-founder)
  • Kartik Tiwari
    (co-founder)
Websitestarsky.io

History

In 2017, Starsky Robotics announced that it had raised $5 million from Y Combinator, Sam Altman, Trucks VC, and Data Collective to create an autonomous trucking company.[2] In 2018, company closed a $16.5 million Series A, led by Shasta Ventures.[3]

In February 2018, Starsky Robotics completed a 7-mile fully driverless trip in Florida without a single human in the truck.[4] Starsky is the first company to publicly test an empty cabin for autonomous trucks.[5]

In November 2019 over 85% of staff were laid off after the company failed to find further investment, due to concerns over the financial stability of its freight-hauling arm.[6] By March 2020 the company sold off the remaining assets, including patents relating to operating remote vehicles.[1]

Technology

The company developed proprietary technology that allowed drivers to remotely pilot trucks from a central headquarters.[7][8] The company successfully completed full deliveries with 85% autonomy.[9][10] Starsky Robotics’ system worked to solve the issue of final-mile delivery by removing drivers from the cab entirely and putting them in an office where they could remotely operate the truck from terminal to delivery.[11]

See also

References
  1. Seltz-Axmacher, Stefan (2020-03-19). "The End of Starsky Robotics". Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  2. "These Truckers Work Alongside the Coders Trying to Eliminate Their Jobs". Bloomberg.com. 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  3. "Starsky Robotics raises a $16.5 million Series A for its self-driving trucks – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  4. "Starsky Robotics Unleashes Its Truly Driverless Truck in Florida". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  5. McFarland, Matt. "Pull over, Uber. This self-driving truck is driving with no one on board". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  6. "Starsky Robotics Downsizes". Freight waves. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  7. Etherington, Darrell. "Starsky Robotics' autonomous transport trucks also give drivers remote control". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  8. Lienert, Paul (February 28, 2017). "Starsky Robotics sees 'last mile' solution for driverless trucks". Reuters. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  9. Roy, Alex. "Starsky Robotics Unveils a Self-Driving Truck That Could Kill Uber Subsidiary Otto". The Drive. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  10. "This Driverless Truck Startup Is Putting Human Drivers to Work". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  11. "Truck completes fully autonomous route without driver in cab". www.ccjdigital.com. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
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