Shawnee native sells another startup for over $1B with GM deal
March 21, 2016 | Bobby Burch
General Motors is hoping to become the leader of self-driving car technology with the gargantuan acquisition of Cruise Automation, whose founder has a local tie.
GM announced on March 11 that it purchased Cruise for more than $1 billion in a move that aims to accelerate the development of GM’s autonomous vehicle tech. Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt is a 2004 graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.
“GM’s commitment to autonomous vehicles is inspiring, deliberate and completely in line with our vision to make transportation safer and more accessible,” Vogt said in a release. “We are excited to be partnering with GM and believe this is a ground-breaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous vehicle technology.”
Cruise created an aftermarket kit that allows users to convert certain types of cars into autonomous vehicles for highway driving. Fortune Magazine reports that about 40 people work for Cruise. The company raised more than $18 million in venture capital funding, and its investors include Y Combinator, Spark Capital, Maven Ventures and Founder Collective.
As part of the deal, Cruise will operate as an independent unit within GM’s recently-formed autonomous vehicle team. The company will continue to be based in San Francisco. GM already works with ride-sharing company Lyft and formed a personal mobility brand for car-sharing fleets named Maven.
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vogt now has two billion-dollar deals under his belt. In 2006, he helped build and launch Twitch, which is self-described “the ESPN for gaming.” In 2013, Amazon acquired the firm for $1.1 billion. He also was a co-founder of SocialCam, a mobile app for video sharing. In 2011, he sold the firm to Autodesk for $60 million.
To learn more about Cruise’s technology, check out the video below.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Bodify joins Tulsa accelerator with $70K investment, ‘knocking down a lot of dominoes’
One of Kansas City’s most tenacious founders is in the midst of an intensive, six-month accelerator aimed at bringing her fashion tech startup to revenue without decreasing her ownership stake in the company. “Follow-on investment is nice, but you don’t have a company without revenue,” said Carlanda McKinney, founder and CEO of Bodify. “For me,…
Esports orgs target more diversity in gaming; Mayor Q to join weekend ‘Among Us’ stream to boost message
Two Kansas City esports organizations are uniting behind one jersey to help make the rapidly expanding online gaming community more accessible to students in Title 1 schools across Missouri. “Esports brings kids together who might not otherwise have the chance to be a part of a broader community,” said Mason Mullenioux, CEO of Generation Esports…
Missouri angel tax credits? New grants? Show-Me State tech advocates researching next generation of incentives for entrepreneurs
The future of entrepreneurial support in Missouri could hinge on what those in the trenches say are the state’s biggest barriers to startup success, said Jack Scatizzi, announcing a new data-driven effort to reshape Missouri’s strategy for cultivating innovation. “The initiative will include quantitative and qualitative aspects that will be incorporated into a strategic plan…
KC tech guru, startup advocate talks cryptocurrency’s value: ‘History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it often rhymes’
Cryptocurrency eventually will cause the most significant exchange of wealth mankind has ever experienced, Matthew Marcus forecast, and the web developer-turned-startup community organizer hopes to help others get involved early. “We are essentially in the early 1990s of the internet. The same way we talked about the internet and email 20-some years ago, will be…