Part
01
of one
Part
01
I would need a list of startups that work on GPS solutions for autonomous vehicles in the Bay Area, USA.
Hello! Thanks for your question about startup companies in the Bay Area which are developing GPS specifically for the autonomous vehicle market. The short version is that SwiftNav is the only company we could find that fit your exact criteria, though there were other companies in the Bay Area developing autonomous vehicles and other companies around the world specifically developing the GPS systems for them. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
First, we needed to define the term "start up." While the term itself is somewhat nebulous, Forbes notes that most start-ups are less than five years old, and nearly all are less than ten years old. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, we narrowed our search to companies which launched in 2012 or later. With that definition in mind, we searched Angel.co for GPS startups in the Bay Area. However, while we found a number of companies developing GPS for various applications, none of them seemed to be involved with the development of autonomous vehicles. Searching their competitors did not yield any useful results.
Our next step was to expand our search beyond known startups. We soon found our first suitable company and from there quickly identified its competitors, looking for those also based in the Bay Area. We also reviewed industry-specific media like GPSWorld and CBInsights to attempt to find out who the major players in this sector are.
RESULTS
While there are supposedly over 60 companies in the Bay Area working on developing automated cars, there proved to be far fewer in that specific region working on the GPS technology needed to make autonomous cars a reality. In fact, we found only one that fit your exact criteria.
SwiftNav was founded in 2012. This San Franscisco-based company recently raised $34 million to develop the precision GPS needed for autonomous vehicles.
This is not to say that SwiftNav is the only company developing GPS specifically for automated cars. NovAtel is likewise working this technology, but it is based out of Houston, TX, not California.
In addition, there are a number of companies in the Bay Area which are developing GPS for other applications. However, these too are beyond the parameters of your question.
POSSIBLE FURTHER RESEARCH
Since we are not sure exactly how you intend to use this information, it is difficult to suggest further areas of research. The most obvious avenue would be to expand our search to either companies developing GPS outside of the Bay Area or else do a deeper dive of the companies within the Bay Area working on one or more aspects of autonomous vehicles.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, SwiftNav is the only startup in the Bay Area that we could find which is developing GPS specifically for autonomous vehicles. Expanding the search parameters may yield further results.
Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!