• FERNRIDE

  Participated · Series A · Jun 2023

  FERNRIDE builds safety-certified autonomous terminal tractors and a ground autonomy platform that enables remote teleoperation and human-assisted autonomy for seamless vehicle takeovers. The company has commercial customers including HHLA, Volkswagen, and DB Schenker and is scaling into European container terminals following TÜV SÜD safety certification. It emphasizes cybersecurity and GPS-free localisation to operate in contested or GPS-denied environments. FERNRIDE aims to expand into defence logistics to support mission resilience and reallocate personnel from repetitive transport tasks. The company highlights efficiency gains from reduced idling and teleoperators managing multiple vehicles. Recent fundraising supports dual-use industrial deployment across civilian and defence markets. Fernride develops scalable automation solutions for yard trucking using a human-assisted autonomy approach that enables remote takeovers when necessary. The company aims to increase productivity, improve worker safety, and reduce the environmental impact of logistics operations. Fernride positions its technology to address industry challenges such as driver shortages. It intends to use the new funding to expand its business reach and accelerate development efforts. The company has over 130 employees across offices in Munich and Wolfsburg and lists customers including Volkswagen, HHLA and DB Schenker. Founders are Hendrik Kramer, Maximilian Fisser, and Jean-Michael Georg. Fernride develops Level 4 autonomous, electric yard trucks that operate in geofenced private sites such as ports, terminals and distribution facilities. Its product combines onboard autonomy with tele-operation; a remote driver monitors vehicles and can control up to four trucks, a model the company calls "human-assisted autonomy." Fernride is operating a fleet of six trucks, plans to scale to 20 by the end of 2023 and aims for 1,000 trucks to serve its four current customers. It has commercial partnerships and customers including Terberg (for production), VW Group Logistics, DB Schenker, BSH and HHLA. The company starts with a transportation-as-a-service model—operating fleets and employing remote drivers—and plans to transition to a per-truck, per-year SaaS model as customers take over remote operations. Fernride relies on private 4G/5G connectivity in yards, limits yard speeds to about 20 mph, and intends to expand to short-haul public roads in two to three years as its technology matures.

No current team members are available.