Bengaluru: Nauto, a vehicle automation technology company, announces that it has raised $159 million in its Series B financing round led by a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. and Greylock Partners. Other participants to this funding include BMW iVentures, General Motors Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures, and the venture unit of global financial services and insurance provider Allianz Group, along with Series A investors – Playground Global and Draper Nexus.

The funds will fuel Nauto’s growth and the deployment of its retrofit safety and networking system into more vehicles around the globe, as well as support the expansion of the Nauto data platform in autonomous vehicle R&D across multiple automakers. “SoftBank and Greylock, along with our key strategic partners, are turbo-charging Nauto’s ability to make roads safer today and to create an onramp to autonomy for the near future,” said Stefan Heck, Founder & CEO, Nauto.

Headquartered in California, Nauto is the contrivance of Stefan Heck and Frederick Soo who founded the company in 2015. The company’s autonomous vehicle technology system offers an AI-powered connected camera network and smart cloud system which identifies dangers and alerts the drivers, and provide coaching & feedback at the end of trips. Nauto’s real-time sensors and visual data help fleet managers detect & understand the cause of accidents and reduce false liability claims.

Post the latest funding round, Greylock’s Partner - Reid Hoffman, and Soft Bank’s Shu Nyatta, will join Nauto’s Board of Directors. “Stefan Heck is a smart, seasoned entrepreneur, and the talented Nauto team is building a valuable automotive data platform that will not only make roads safer now, but also gain valuable insights about how humans operate cars for the future,” says Hoffman.