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Glydways, a San Francisco-based startup developing personal autonomous pods designed to operate on dedicated 2-meter-wide lanes in cities, has raised $170 million<\/a> in a Series C funding round.<\/p>\n The round was co-led by Suzuki Motor Corporation, ACS Group, and Khosla Ventures. Existing investors Mitsui Chemicals and Gates Frontier, and new investor Obayashi Corporation also participated.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now it seems the startup is already in discussions to raise another $250 million in funding that would push its valuation to more than $1 billion, Bloomberg reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Glydways has made progress on its concept, which it claims can move up to 10,000 people per hour, per lane and reduce infrastructure costs by up to 90% compared to rail. The startup, founded in 2016, is launching three operational pilots this year in Atlanta, New York City, and the United Arab Emirates. The company is aiming to launch large-scale operations in 2027.<\/p>\n The novel idea has attracted influential backers, including OpenAI founder Sam Altman, who invested in Glydways\u2019 Series B. Investor\u00a0Vinod Khosla, who sits on the startup\u2019s board,\u00a0previously told TechCrunch that Glydways \u2014 and not robotaxis \u2014 was the better solution for cities. Khosla noted the startup\u2019s transport system could replace most cars in most of our cities in the next 25 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds radical, but these entrepreneurs want to make that happen, and I\u2019m pretty certain it will happen, and it\u2019s not robotaxis; it\u2019s not Waymo. It\u2019s a much better solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n