What's the deal? Tokyo-based autonomous driving startup T2 has raised 5 billion JPY ($30 million) in a Series B round. Eleven individual investors backed the round, which closed in July. That brings total funding since T2's 2020 founding to more than 16 billion JPY ($100 million).
What's the endgame? T2 develops autonomous driving systems for long-haul freight and provides related services for the trucking industry. Its core aim is to support Japan's logistics sector.
Why now? Japan faces a growing shortage of truck drivers, driven by the country's changing demographics. T2 is positioning its technology to fill that gap.
The signal: The round ranks in the 95th percentile by size among all-time Series B deals in Japan, based on a sample of 1,063 rounds. That places T2 among the larger domestic bets on autonomous freight as an ageing workforce pushes logistics toward automation.
Read more: Truck & Bus Builder
Image credit: jurvetson
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