We are excited to share the news that Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of Stellantis N.V., has selected Nauto as one of its first key investments. It feels like yesterday when I started Nauto (it was actually in 2015) to accelerate the application of AI and deep learning helping drivers stay safe and reduce their risks and collisions and now Team Nauto is on a mission to make safer fleets and safer roads for all. We are proud and humbled to have worked with incredible customers, insurance and automotive partners, and investors during this extraordinary journey. Headquartered in Silicon Valley and with a global presence, Nauto has raised $215M and is trusted by over 800 fleets worldwide.
We are making great and rapid progress to improve our AI powered vehicle safety solution well beyond our initial goal of beating the seat belt - which reduced injuries and fatalities by over 20% in the 1950s and 60s. Today tens of thousands of safety heroes - drivers and fleet managers - are using the award winning Nauto solution in the US, Japan, Europe and Canada to cut collisions and injuries in half or more. And yet we are far away from reaching the ultimate goal of the Road to Zero collisions and fatalities.
Customer-centric innovation is at the heart of what we do. Just look at what we have launched in the past year:
- Pedestrian Collision Warning and Pedestrian Collision Warning plus Distraction detection enabling detection of a pedestrian, cyclist or a motorcyclist and when detected providing a real time alert. Pedestrian injuries have been skyrocketing and one of the most urgent issues for cities and fleets driving in urban areas.
- Nauto Connect mobile app (iOS and Android) for anytime, anywhere access to fleet safety for drivers and fleet managers and it allows drivers to self-score and self-improve their driving.
- New in-vehicle alerts for drowsiness, cell phone use, seat belt policy violation and smoking continue our push to solve the #1 cause of collision: different forms of inattention.
As we have written about in this blog and discussed frequently in the media, this is a time of unprecedented change in automotive safety advancement. Having the experience, network, and global scale of a leading automaker like Stellantis at a time when traffic fatalities are the highest they have been in 20 years, is a welcome indication of how serious the industry is about incorporating cutting-edge safety systems that work. With its global reach and diverse vehicle models - passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, sports cars, and luxury vehicles - presents an opportunity for Nauto to expand our safety benefits efficiently into additional light commercial vehicles and over time consumer vehicles as well. Nauto is deeply committed to safer roads for all users without sacrificing a superior driver experience. Nauto’s safety system assesses both driver behavior risks and external road risks, warning and coaching them to reduce distracted driving and helping prevent collisions in real-time while respecting driver privacy. Recording a video for the Nauto solution is purely optional; AI still works including distraction and drowsiness algorithms, without video. Drivers trust the Nauto solution, and we usually receive positive feedback from them. You can see the drivers acknowledge and nod, or you can see them wave and say, "Hey, thank you." Our goal is really to give the driver the critical extra time to hit the brakes, swerve, pull over or make any other appropriate corrections when a risk is detected.
The results are rapid and impressive. Nauto customers across multiple industry verticals have seen 40% - 80% collision reduction and to date we have helped avoid about 30,000 collisions. To our more than 800 fleets worldwide and tens of thousands of drivers relying on Nauto as a trusted co-pilot, thank you for your continued partnership. And to our investors, we appreciate your confidence in Nauto!
- Stefan Heck, Founder & CEO of Nauto
.jpg)
