SB Drive Corp., a Tokyo, Japan-based company aiming to commercialize smart mobility services by utilizing self-driving technologies, received a capital increase through a third-party allocation of shares, with Yahoo! JAPAN making a new investment and SoftBank making an additional investment.
With the new investment, the company is now capitalized at approximately JPY 1 billion.
Established in April 2016 as a joint venture between SoftBank and Advanced Smart Mobility Co., and led by Yuki Saji, President & CEO, SB Drive is a company researching and developing automated driving technologies.
Under a cooperative framework with SoftBank, Advanced Smart Mobility, Yahoo! JAPAN and others, SB Drive has been conducting social trials and testing the commercial viability of fixed-route bus type community public transportation and large truck convoy-based trunk line freight transportation systems that utilize self-driving technologies.
Currently SB Drive has smart mobility partnership agreements with four municipalities in Japan, including Kitakyushu City and Yazu Town in Tottori Prefecture.
In the latter half of fiscal 2018, the company SB Drive is planning to conduct fully autonomous driving trials on public roads.
FinSMEs
25/03/2017