Glydways – a leader in developing on-demand Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) – recently announced a $56 million Series B round, including the conversion of notes valued at more than $28 million and led by New Science Ventures with participation from The ACS Group and Gates Frontier. Khosla Ventures, Glydways first investor, is also participating in this latest round. The company raised over $70 million to date.
Along with the recent funding, Glydways has been selected by Contra Costa Transportation Authority and Tri Delta Transit (Authorities) for the initial vital segment of the Dynamic Personal Micro Transit project to increase public transit accessibility for the fast-growing communities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley and Brentwood. And the Project will be jointly administered by the Authorities and is designed to complement, enhance and expand existing public transportation options to create a meaningful multi-modal system. This is the second significant project Glydways has been awarded already this year with the first being the City of San Jose’s project connecting San Jose Mineta International Airport to the City’s downtown Diridon Station – both located in California.
There are 4,037 cities around the world that have the population density whereby mass transit systems are needed and can be supported. But only 194 (4.8%) of them actually have a rail or metro system. Glydways has developed a revolutionary approach to urban mass transit that is more affordable and accessible for the 95% of cities around the world that have no solution – a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system of on-demand, personal, autonomous, battery-operated electric vehicles traveling on small, dedicated rights of way that can be built at-grade, elevated, or tunneled and integrates with any public transportation options.
The vehicles – called Glydcars – exclusively use these lanes with no crossings and no other vehicles which means Glydcars travel unimpeded with no stops or slowdowns. And the system can move up to 10,000 people per hour per lane/direction, which means larger numbers of riders will move more comfortably, sustainably and affordably than ever before, all for the cost of a transit fare. This approach offers net-new capacity, which means vehicle trips are removed from city streets, thus reducing overall traffic congestion.
The CAPEX requirements for the Glydways system is a fraction of the cost to build rail or bus lanes, and since the system is on-demand, its OPEX is also significantly smaller too. The Glydways system generates zero emissions. Each car is electric battery powered and bi-directional. We have thoughtfully designed the Glydcar to optimize its range (weight, resistance, features), which makes Glydways one of the most climate-friendly mobility systems in the world.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are thrilled and grateful to welcome this brilliant group of investors to the Glydways team. Investing in a new form of public mobility requires both vision and a belief in the future we are building together with our customers and their communities. These three partners, along with Khosla Ventures, understand the complex dynamics around public transit and are the perfect team to help guide us as we develop and refine our technology to revolutionize urban mass transit.”
- Gokul Hemmady, CEO of Glydways
“Glydways is leading a revolution in urban mass transit. We are very impressed with the company’s momentum and the technologies they have developed. We’re believers in Glydways’ compelling value proposition to enable their solution to become a new mode of transit for city planners across the world.”
- Somu Subramaniam, NSV Managing Partner
“As a world leading infrastructure business, we can see the strategic value of Glydways and how it will transform public transit for the benefit of the communities it will serve.”
- Nuria Haltiwanger, CEO for ACS Infrastructure
