Kodiak Robotics

Kodiak Robotics is a startup developing Level-4 autonomous trucks (i.e., fully autonomous vehicles but limited to specific locations and/or conditions) powered by its autonomous technology “Kodiak Driver,” for long-haul transportation. Its co-founder, Don Brunette, is a former member of the Google self-driving project. Its approach to system engineering is unique and involves a ground-up approach without retrofitting systems from other autonomous vehicles. Its fourth-generation model (unveiled in September 2021), comes equipped with a modular sensor suite and comprises components from leading tech companies including Luminar, Cummins, Bridgestone Americas, and Nvidia, among others. In January 2024 , the company unveiled its sixth-generation driverless semi-truck designed for scaled deployment on public roads. Kodiak plans to use the truck in its driverless operations, scheduled to be launched in 2024 between Dallas and Houston.

The company plans to make the fourth-generation technology available for users in two ways: 1) shippers can either request to integrate the sensor pods into their fleets and pay a subscription fee for Kodiak Driver, or 2) partner with Kodiak Robotics to ship goods using Kodiak’s fleet of autonomous trucks. The company also plans to introduce trucks without a safety driver by 2023. In May 2023 , Kodiak Robotics announced the launch of its first autonomous Class 8 electric semi truck. The truck is a modified Peterbilt Model 579EV equipped with Kodiak’s self-driving technology, Kodiak Driver, and has a range of 150 miles per charge. 

In August 2019, Kodiak Robotics began commercial deliveries on Texas highways with its fleet of eight class-8 autonomous trucks, and plans to expand to a fleet of roughly 25 trucks by 2022. As of August 2022, it was operating six routes between Dallas and Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, and Jacksonville, Florida. The company also has autonomous truck hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth (Texas) and Villa Rica (Georgia).

Key customers and partnerships

The company is conducting daily deliveries for an undisclosed freight carrier in Texas (as of May 2021), and has partnerships with Ceva Logistics for deliveries in Texas and Oklahoma (March 2022), U.S. Xpress for a pilot between Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia (April 2022) , 10 Roads Express to pilot a route between California, Texas, and Florida (July 2022); Werner Enterprises to establish an autonomous trucking lane (September 2022; one week pilot completed in routes between Dallas, Texas and Lake City Florida in August 2022); Maersk for a commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City ( October 2023 ); IKEA for deliveries between Baytown and Frisco, Texas (October 2022) ; and Martin Brower to carry out autonomous refrigerated transport between Dallas and Oklahoma City ( February 2024 ). In January 2024 , Kodiak Robotics partnered with the logistics and transportation firm Ryder Systems to establish a truckport in Houston to launch and land autonomous trucks and transfer freight within the routes. It also expects the truckport to facilitate its soon-to-be-launched driverless truck operations on its Dallas-Houston route.  It also has a partnership with travel center operator Pilot Company to co-develop truck service stations across North America (August 2022). In January 2023, Kodiak Robotics announced a partnership with semiconductor design company, Ambarella, Inc. to integrate Ambarella’s CV2AQ AI perception system-on-chip (SoC) into Kodiak’s self-driving trucks for all camera data processing. In July 2023 , it partnered with Drivewyze, a provider of weigh station bypass solutions and the Texas Department of Public Safety to pilot a motor vehicle inspection program for autonomous trucks.

In May 2021, the company also partnered with South Korean conglomerate SK Group to bring its autonomous trucks to the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea and China. The partners are said to consider a joint venture (JV) once Kodiak Robotics launches its commercial operations in the US. 

Funding and financials

In October 2022, Kodiak Robotics received a USD 30 million growth capital credit facility from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, a specialty finance company. The company intended to utilize the funds to scale its autonomous driving platform and expand its product suite. Previoisly in November 2021, Kodiak Robotics raised USD 125 million in a Series B funding round. The company intends to use the funds over 2022 to double its team, fast-track product commercialization, expand its autonomous service capabilities across the country, and expand its truck fleet.