About Optimus Ride
Optimus Ride is a Transportation, Automotive & Logistics company based in Cambridge (United States) founded in 2015, and was acquired by Magna in January 2022. Self-driving technology for shuttles is developed and provided. Optimus Ride has raised $43.98 million across 7 funding rounds from investors including Magna International, DOE and FirstMark. The company has 130 employees. Its focus areas include Auto Tech, Autonomous Vehicles, Self Driving Technology and Shuttles. Its legal entity is OPTIMUS RIDE INC. Its competitors include Zoox, May Mobility and Auro Robotics; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Optimus Ride was founded in 2015 in Cambridge, United States, within the autonomous vehicle sector. Self-driving technology for shuttles is provided, with a focus on designing a level 4 fully autonomous system for electric vehicle fleets. Testing of the technology occurred in September 2016 at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. Software and hardware are aimed to be offered as Mobility-as-a-Service solutions.
- Headquarters Cambridge, United States
- Employees 130
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsTransportation, Automotive & Logistics
- Emailβ’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’
- Website optimusride.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by Magna (Jan 2022)
- Legal Name Optimus Ride Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$43.98M (USD)
in 7 rounds
- InvestorsMagna International
& 11 more
- Employee Count130
- Acquired byMagna
(Jan 2022)
Funding Insights of Optimus Ride
Optimus Ride has successfully raised a total of $43.98M across 7 strategic funding rounds. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $43.98M
- Total Rounds 7
- First Round $500,000
(Oct 2015)
- Investors Count 11
All 7 funding rounds of Optimus Ride with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2021 | Grant | β | β | ||
| Apr 2019 | $20.71M | Series B | β | β | β |
| Nov 2017 | $18.02M | Series A | β | Greycroft | |
| Jun 2017 | $1.1M | Debt – Conventional | β | β | β |
| Jun 2017 | Seed | β | F-Prime Capital, Eight Roads Ventures | β | |
| Oct 2016 | $5.25M | Seed | β | NextView Ventures, FirstMark | |
| Oct 2015 | $500,000 | Debt – Conventional | β | β | β |
12 investors in total: 12 institutional.
Investors in Optimus Ride
Optimus Ride has secured backing from 12 investors, including institutional and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Magna International, DOE and FirstMark.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Multiple sectors are targeted for venture capital investments by Greycroft. | greycroft.com | New York, United States | ||
Tech focused growth stage VC firm investing in the US | fmcap.com | Boulder, United States | ||
Investments in life sciences, technology, healthtech, and crypto sectors from global locations. | fprimecapital.com | |||
Venture capital investment and global platform support for startups. | 2008 | eightroads.com | London, United Kingdom | |
Seed-stage tech startups are invested in by NextView Ventures. | nextview.vc | Boston, United States | ||
Early-stage venture capital is invested in tech startups across sectors. | 1987 | firstmark.com | New York, United States | |
US based VC firm investing in seed stage | moradoventures.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
AI and data science startups are accelerated through specialized support. | nvidia.com/en-us/deep-learning-ai/startups | Santa Clara, United States | ||
Energy sources and policies are managed by the DOE. | 1977 | energy.gov | ||
| emersoncollective.com |
Investor details for Optimus Ride
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Optimus Ride
12 people are tracked at Optimus Ride (2 in leadership, 10 in team); the tracked headcount is 130.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Patrick Barragán | VP, Autonomy | Leadership |
Lee Hower | Investor / Board Director | Leadership |
Deonte Flounory | Operations Associate | Team |
Jasmine Brown | Call Center Representative | Team |
Lyle Moffitt | Robotics Systems Software Engineer | Team |
Kevon Brooks | Software Operator | Team |
Mark Mulligan | DevOps Engineer | Team |
Sam S | Systems Integration and Test Engineer | Team |
Raidu Rayasam | Technology Leader | Team |
Abayneh Assefa | Business Management | Team |
Mark Jamna | Software Operator/Tester | Team |
Raidu R. | Technology Leader | Team |
Complete people profiles for Optimus Ride
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Optimus Ride
4 dated milestones of Optimus Ride across 7 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Optimus Ride is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $500K.
- Funding Latest funding round, Grant,.
- Exit Acquired by Magna.
Competitors of Optimus Ride
Optimus Ride has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Zoox, May Mobility and Auro Robotics.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zoox.com | 2014 | Foster, United States | $990M | 1,388 | Autonomous mobility solutions are provided through AI-enabled platforms. | |
| maymobility.com | 2017 | Ann Arbor, United States | $382.62M | 196 | Autonomous shuttles are developed for urban transportation solutions. | |
| auro.ai | 2013 | Santa Clara, United States | $2M | Autonomous vehicles and driving systems are developed by Auro Robotics. |
Detailed competitors of Optimus Ride
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Autonomous Vehicles
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Optimus Ride (Autonomous Vehicles) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AI and SaaS-based self-driving solutions for autonomous vehicles are provided. | 2017 | Mountain View, California, United States | USD 692.62 M | USD 3 M | 2,619 | |
Developer of LiDAR-based sensors | 2002 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 129 M | USD 169.38 M | 192 | |
SaaS-enabled hardware and software for autonomous vehicles are developed. | 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 7.72 B | 3,326 |
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Related news about Optimus Ride
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Frequently Asked Questions about Optimus Ride
Optimus Ride was founded in 2015.
Optimus Ride is headquartered in Cambridge, United States. It is registered at Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
Optimus Ride is a funded company, having raised a total of $43.98M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Debt β Conventional of $500K, raised on Oct 2015.
Optimus Ride has 130 employees.
Optimus Ride was founded in 2015 in Cambridge, United States, within the autonomous vehicle sector. Self-driving technology for shuttles is provided, with a focus on designing a level 4 fully autonomous system for electric vehicle fleets. Testing of the technology occurred in September 2016 at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. Software and hardware are aimed to be offered as Mobility-as-a-Service solutions.
Optimus Ride's top competitors include Zoox, May Mobility and Auro Robotics.
Optimus Ride has 12 investors. Key investors include Magna International, DOE, FirstMark, Eight Roads Ventures, and Greycroft.
Optimus Ride operates through Optimus Ride Inc..
Yes. Optimus Ride was acquired by Magna in January 2022.

