US Startup Outrider Raises $73 Mn to Scale-up Autonomous Yard Operations

Outrider, a US autonomous yard operations startup, has raised $73 million in Series C financing. The round was led by FM Capital, and new investors include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm.

Outrider will use this funding to expand its proprietary autonomy and safety technology portfolio, increase hiring domestically and internationally, and scale its yard automation solution with large customers in package shipping, retail, eCommerce, consumer packaged goods, grocery, manufacturing, and intermodal industries.

Its customers, representing more than 20% of all yard trucks operating in North America, have invested in joint product testing and pilot operations since 2019.

The Colorado-based company has raised $191 million in financing to date.

Andrew Smith, CEO and Founder of Outrider. says: “Outrider has consistently delivered breakthrough technology to automate one of the most inefficient links in the supply chain – the distribution yard. Our customers will move massive quantities of freight more efficiently, safely, and sustainably using Outrider’s technology. We are thrilled to have an outstanding network of investors who share our vision to set a new standard for the global logistics industry.”

“Outrider has addressed all the pieces – technology, safety, operations, and support – needed to deploy a reliable, industrial-grade system at scale. The company is a case study in bringing advanced robotics and autonomy technology to market,” adds Mark Norman, Managing Partner of FM Capital. “Outrider has a world-class team to scale their solution and FM Capital is excited to invest and join the company’s Board of Directors.”

“Our confidence in Outrider is based on its technical and commercial leadership in yard automation for fully autonomous vehicles to integrate fluidly into real-world customer operations,” comments Mohamed “Sid” Siddeek, Head of NVentures, NVIDIA. “The fundamental processing pipeline for autonomous vehicles can be applied to all kinds of autonomous and robotics systems, a key area of focus for NVIDIA.”

Since announcing its Series B financing in 2020, Outrider has performed tens of thousands of fully autonomous trailer moves at customer sites and Outrider’s Advanced Testing Facility,