Passing through the first half of 2024 we eager to look into what has made sense in the sector of autonomous industry this year so far. Although it is already almost decade since autonomous driving technology is on hype, this year we expect significant investment which will catalyze the sector’s development. Monarch tractor We want to jump-in to industrial sector. Here we have Monarch Tractor, which recently raised $133M in series C funding. These investment likely to give a solid ground for profitability of the company. Development of Wingspan AI, farm management platform, is the primary target of the investment. The company plans the continual development of product solutions, including the introduction of new AI capabilities, will be the driving force in closing the industry's profit gap. Funding was co-led by global impact investor Astanor and HH-CTBC Partnership, L.P., with additional support from prominent investors, including At One Ventures, PMV and The Welvaartsfonds. Aurora The Aurora Driver computer is a ruggedized, vehicle-agnostic, high-speed computing platform that ingests sensor data, runs the Aurora Driver software, and controls the vehicle. Aurora has now arranged to sell up to $420 million worth of Class A common stock to underwriters Goldman Sachs, Allen & Company and Morgan Stanley. The company made its public debut through a special purpose acquisition merger in 2021, and its stock has traded as high as $13.12 on opening day. This firm expect to deploy driverless trucks at scale in 2026 and become a cash flow positive company in 2028. As of June 30, 2024, Aurora had $402 million in cash and cash equivalents and $618 million in short-term investments. Not including the proceeds from its offering, the company expects this to be enough to fund operations into the fourth quarter of 2025. Wayve The UK AI self-driving car startup secured more than $1bn of investment in May to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence-powered vehicles, with the funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank. Wayve has already carried out autonomous car trials on public roads and has been integrated into advanced driver assistance systems by partners Jaguar and Ford. As the company states, its system will set capabilities to navigate situations that do not follow strict patterns or rules, such as unexpected actions by drivers, pedestrians, or environmental elements. Waabi Waabi raised $200 million in Series B funding round which happened in June, led by existing investors Uber and Khosla Ventures. Waabi’s latest funding round also included Nvidia, a new investor in the company, as well as Porsche and the venture capital arm of Volvo. The Toronto-based company expects to launch fully driverless trucks in 2025, and ultimately see its generative AI deployed in humanoid and warehouse robots. Waymo Quite successful period for Waymo, - expansion in San Francisco and Alphabet’s announcement of $5 Bln injection into self-driving unit. Currently, Waymo provides 50,000 weekly paid trips, mostly in San Francisco and Phoenix. With such a solid backup, Waymo is definitely is on forefront of self-driving innovations.