May Mobility, a leader in the development and deployment of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, announced the initial closing of its Series C round of funding with an investment of $83 million led by Mirai Creation Fund II – a SPARX Group Co., Ltd. managed fund that is renowned for supporting high-growth, high-tech companies and has made 76 investments to date. New investors include Tokio Marine and Toyota Tsusho, along with returning investors Toyota Ventures, Millennium Technology Value Partners, Cyrus Capital Partners, 1843 Capital, BMW i Ventures and Bay Lake Ventures. Final closing of the financing is expected to take place near the end of Q1 2022.
“With this initial Series C funding, our latest group of global strategic investment partners will enable us to rapidly deploy our technology on Toyota’s autonomous-ready platforms, including the Sienna Autono-MaaS,” said Edwin Olson, CEO of May Mobility. “We will continue to challenge the status quo of transit by reshaping the future of the AV industry.”
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Charting Towards a Fully Autonomous Future
May Mobility, driven by its class-leading proprietary Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) autonomous driving technology, has provided more than 300,000 revenue-generating rides and launched services in nine cities, including their first international deployment in Higashihiroshima, Japan. The initial investment in this round of funding brings the total amount raised by May Mobility to $166 million to date and is set to help the company increase its engineering headcount, expand its global customer pool, enhance rider experiences and further invest in technology advancements, including driver-out operations in 2023.
“Automated vehicles will play a significant role in addressing urgent social issues such as environmental problems, aging infrastructure, and labor shortages. May Mobility is engaged in research and deployments aimed at the implementation of automated driving technology that can be on the road today, not someday,” said Shuhei Abe, President of SPARX Group Co., Ltd. “With a strong partner in Toyota Motor Corporation, May Mobility has steadily grown its technology and business. Through the Mirai Creation Fund II, SPARX will support the growth of May Mobility to contribute to creating a brighter future together.”
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In addition, this round of funding will enable May Mobility to continue its partnership with Toyota, working on future platforms and future public deployments of the Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS equipped with May’s autonomous driving kit by 2023.
“We believe May Mobility’s latest investment round, led by Mirai Creation Fund II, is significant for the realization of autonomous mobility as a service (Autono-MaaS*),” said Keiji Yamamoto, Operating Officer of Toyota and President of Connected Company. “Through our collaboration with May Mobility, including the Sienna Autono-MaaS vehicle, Toyota continues to accelerate the implementation of Autono-MaaS as a platform to achieve our common dream: Mobility for All.”
“Our team is excited by this renewed commitment of existing investors, in addition to our new investment partners, to help solve the many challenges in bringing to life a safer, greener, more accessible world through autonomous mobility to communities,” said Ryan Green, who joined May as CFO in June 2021. “May is now poised for international expansion through this investment funding.”
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