Argo AI develops a virtual driver system and high-definition maps intended to enable SAE Level 4 autonomous driving for ridesharing and goods-delivery in dense urban areas. The company is based in Pittsburgh and has been testing its technology in multiple U.S. cities including Austin, Miami, Palo Alto, Washington, D.C., Dearborn and Detroit. The Volkswagen alliance turns Argo into a transatlantic company by adding Autonomous Intelligent Driving (AID) as its European headquarters in Munich and expanding staff roughly 40% to more than 700 employees. The transaction raises Argo’s valuation to more than $7 billion and leaves it a private company in which Volkswagen and Ford hold equal stakes, with remaining equity set aside for employees. Argo will treat VW and Ford as separate customers while enabling some collaboration to share costs, and its board will include two VW seats, two Ford seats and three Argo seats. The company says the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2020 and is subject to regulatory approval. Argo AI develops and deploys AI, machine learning and computer-vision technology to build safe and efficient self-driving vehicles. The company was created as an independent entity with its own equity structure and plans to outfit Ford vehicles with its self-driving technology. Ford has committed $1 billion to the venture, to be invested over five years, and will be the majority stakeholder. Employees at Argo AI will receive equity in the company. The team includes leaders with ties to Carnegie Mellon and experience building autonomous vehicles for companies such as Caterpillar, and several senior staff recently left CMU and Uber to join Argo. CEO Bryan Salesky, who previously worked at CMU’s National Robotics Engineering Center and led self-driving hardware at Google, has said the company is targeting full autonomy by 2021.

Total raised

$2.0B

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jul 2019