EVwire brief: Uber has invested in Verne, Verne co-founder and CEO Marko Pejković has confirmed to EVwire, making it official that the ride-hailing giant is now a backer of the Croatian robotaxi company.
Pejković gave the confirmation on LinkedIn, under Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's post about his visit to Verne in Zagreb. No investment amount or further funding round info has been disclosed,.
EVwire’s Jaan asked in the comments whether Uber had invested in Verne, linking our earlier report on how Mate Rimac mentioned investment in his Facebook post, and this time Pejković answered directly:
I can confirm - yes Uber has invested in Verne
Here's Pejković's reply on LinkedIn:
And here is Khosrowshahi's LinkedIn post about his visit to Verne HQ:
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Pejković's confirmation follows what EVwire spotted last week in a Facebook post from Verne co-founder Mate Rimac, who referred to Uber as an investor in the company after Khosrowshahi's trip to Zagreb.
As per Mate Rimac in his post:
Uber is an investor and strategic partner in Verne. Dara tried a robotaxi without a safety driver in Zagreb and was delighted with the experience. We talked about further cooperation and spreading of Verne outside Croatia with the "final" Verne car without steering wheel and pedals.
Until now, Uber's only official word on the matter was that it "intends to invest" in Verne, a line from its March announcement of the Verne and Pony.ai partnership. Neither company has disclosed the size or terms of the investment.
In his own LinkedIn post, Dara Khosrowshahi said he took a fully driverless ride through Zagreb on the technology Pejković's team is building with Pony.ai during his visit, and that Uber is excited to bring rides like it to more people through its platform.
Here are some of the photos Rimac shared from the visit:
Image shared by Mate Rimac on FB
Image shared by Mate Rimac on FB
Image shared by Mate Rimac on FB
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Context:
The three companies have moved fast since Verne, Pony.ai and Uber teamed up in March. In August, Uber added Verne robotaxis to its Zagreb app with a safety operator still on board.
A month later, just this September, Verne and Pony.ai pulled the safety operator for invited riders on a 22-kilometer (13.7-mile) route linking Zagreb's airport with Verne's headquarters and the city center.
The display belongs to Verne's purpose-built two-seater. Image shared by Mate Rimac on FB.
On the hardware side, Verne is building its own purpose-built autonomous two-seater on the Mobileye Drive platform, which Rimac referred to as the "final" Verne car without a steering wheel or pedals.
Verne chose two seats because nine in ten ride-hailing trips carry just one or two passengers, and it showed off the first 60 prototypes of the vehicle late last year.
Here is a look at Verne’s current robotaxis and the company’s upcoming two-seater autonomous cars.
Verne’s current robotaxis, with PonyAI
Verne’s incoming 2-seater robotaxis
Here’s Mate Rimac earlier this year, showing the first 60 prototypes of the Verne’s two-seater:
Source: Marko Pejković and Dara Khosrowshahi on LinkedIn, Mate Rimac on Facebook
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