TDK Corporation, a global provider of electrification solutions, announced that subsidiary TDK Ventures is leading the latest round of financing in driverless-technology developer Faction. Currently joining them as co-investors are Ducera Partners, Trucks Venture Capital, and Fifty Years. This latest round will be used to target customer expansion over the last quarter of 2023 and throughout 2024. Details are forthcoming.
Faction has assembled an experienced team previously responsible for the launch of driverless vehicles ranging from light EVs to full-size semi-trucks. Its team is comprised of engineers experienced in AI, vehicle systems, vehicle safety, big data, sensors, hardware, V2V communication, logistics, and more.
Fully autonomous passenger vehicles may capture the imagination, but practical solutions, will deliver the next generation of profitable, impactful business models. Faction is leading the charge to commercialize supervised autonomous vehicles leveraging teleoperation technologies. Its driverless vehicles incorporate the affordability and maneuverability of motorcycles with the speed and performance of cars to create small-scale delivery vehicles that will clear the way for smarter cities and a more sustainable tomorrow.
Concentrating on electrifying delivery and other fleets rather than passenger vehicles leverages decarbonization efforts and alleviates many of the demand-driven, charging-capacity challenges other sectors of the industry may face.
Faction’s technology architecture is built to make driverless systems work seamlessly. It has created innovative approaches to fleet management, remote vehicle assistance, accurate positioning, and safety. By designing for the majority of short urban trips of less than 5 miles, Faction is deploying right-sized vehicles for their customers’ use cases in mobility and last mile logistics. TDK and other investors agree with Faction that the traditional practice of using legacy vehicles for these short trips isn’t sustainable.
“The support that TDK, along with our co-investors, has provided to Faction has allowed us to grow our technology and we are excited about the next phase of our journey,” stated Ain McKendrick, Faction founder and CEO. “It was evident to us from the beginning that the use of large legacy vehicles was not sustainable from an emissions, gridlock, and energy-use perspective for what we envisioned. Our right-sized, driverless vehicles are smart for city use and an affordable solution for the planet. Companies such as TDK Ventures, Ducera Partners, Trucks Venture Capital, and Fifty Years are a big part in helping us fulfill our dreams.”
“TDK Ventures sees its partnership with Faction as an ideal match in both vision and technology” commented Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures. “The Faction mission dovetails perfectly with our desire to scale technologies that further the world’s digital, energy, and environmental transformations. Faction addresses all three components by applying a digital approach to a problem plaguing both the energy and sustainability spaces.”
Along with financial backing, TDK Ventures views its investments in technologies as a medium for leveraging many of the other advances upon which the company focuses and as an opportunity to contribute to the greater good of humanity. Its mobility investments in general, and its stake in Faction in particular, promise to achieve objectives including: reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels and reducing the pollution associated with heavy traffic and internal-combustion engines.
Filed Under: Electrification, Technology News