Phantom Auto, a remote-driving startup launched seven years ago amid self-driving technology, is shutting down after failing to secure new funding, according to TechCrunch.
The company, which had raised a total of $95 million, developed a teleoperation platform that allowed a remote driver, sometimes thousands of miles away, to operate a vehicle if needed. The company attracted a mix of backers, including angel investors and early-stage VCs such as Bessemer Venture Partners and Maniv Mobility, private equity firm InfraBridge, and strategic investors such as ArcBest and ConGlobal. The startup’s last raise was $25 million in 2023.
The startup had come close to securing another round of funding but unexpectedly fell through, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. At its peak, the startup employed about 120 people. Phantom Auto, which cut staff last year, employed just over 100 people as of this week. Its headquarters were in South San Francisco.
Phantom Auto’s demise is the latest in a long line of startups to emerge as the self-driving technology industry gained attention and investment from investors. That buzz, which led to acquisitions and billion-dollar valuations in the industry, faded as optimistic timelines for the development of robo-taxis and self-driving vehicles slipped. A wave of consolidation, shutdowns and spin-offs followed. The difficult fundraising environment over the past 18 months has prompted a new wave of closings.
Phantom Auto founder and CEO Shai Magzimof was posted Tuesday on LinkedIn that the company has ceased operations.
“After seven years of efforts to reshape the future of physical labor at Phantom Auto, we have made the difficult decision to close operations. There are a number of factors contributing to this, including market conditions and insufficient funding,” he wrote. “I express my gratitude to our employees, investors, customers, partners and everyone who has been with us on this journey. These times are difficult, but my main concern is our team. We have excellent talent who are now looking for opportunities in the job market. I am committed to providing referrals for our employees. personally, I’m going to take a break to relax and think about the next steps.”
Sources told TechCrunch that the company had traction on the customer development side. However, it still relied on external funding to continue operations and eventually scale.
Phantom Auto was founded in 2017 and initially focused on applying its teleops technology to autonomous vehicles on public roads, such as the robot car and autonomous trucks. The company’s executive team soon realized that even with its technology, large-scale commercial deployment of driverless vehicles on public roads was decades away.
Phantom Auto pivoted in 2019 and began buying its remote-driving system into logistics, specifically forklifts and yard trucks that don’t have autonomy, as well as autonomous curbside delivery robots. All of these vehicles operate at low speed and, with the exception of delivery bots, are in limited environments. The company had customer deals with Maersk, CJ Logistics, ArcBest and autonomous sidewalk robot startup Serve Robotics.
