SoftBank leads $150m Series C for US, India-based Netradyne
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 has led a $150 million Series C round for Netradyne, a US and India-based software provider for vehicle fleet operators.
US-based Point72 Ventures and M12, the corporate venture capital arm of Microsoft, also participated. M12, which formalized its India presence last year, provides its portfolio companies with preferential access to Microsoft resources, co-marketing, and engineering support.
M12 and Point72 provided a $21 million Series B in 2018 alongside India’s Reliance Industries, which invested through its digital communications and services subsidiary RJIL. Reliance committed $16 million in a Series A in 2016, citing interest in the large amounts of data Netradyne acquires.
The company’s Driveri platform uses an in-car device, including a 360-degree camera, to gather information about driving time, road conditions, and driver behavior. The data are analyzed using an edge-computing artificial intelligence system, which entails in-car processing.
“We fundamentally believe that an advanced edge computing and computer vision approach is the only possible option for the future,” Netradyne said in a statement. “It not only radically simplifies data into organized insights and reduces costs, but also fuels innovation by being able to learn from itself.”
The main goal is to improve safety by raising awareness of risk factors. Netradyne positions this as a key differentiator, noting that many dashcam tools are designed purely for monitoring compliant driving. The safety focus is also said to improve driver morale by rewarding positive driving habits and help fleet managers stabilize rising insurance costs.
The investment comes at a time of rapid growth for the company, which claims to have seen a 300% year-on-year increase in annual recurring revenue in both 2019 and 2020. It also coincides with the unveiling of a new logo, brand colors, and website. Netradyne said this was “to better align with the direction the business is headed.”
Driver and dispatcher-facing services are seen as relatively underdeveloped areas versus passenger-facing services in the fleet management industry. India appears to be emerging as a leading player in this niche, however. Earlier this month, LocoNav, a company that claims to have the most daily downloaded fleet software app in the country, raised a $37 million Series B.
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