Autolane, a leading innovator in autonomous vehicle infrastructure, today announced a successful $7.4 million funding round co-led by prominent venture firms Draper Associates and Hyperplane. The capital, which also included participation from LAUNCH and Feld Ventures, is set to accelerate the deployment of Autolane’s groundbreaking curbside operating system. Concurrently, the company is launching its technology at four high-traffic Simon® shopping destinations across Texas and California.
The investment arrives at a crucial juncture, addressing the widening gap between the rapid advancement of autonomous vehicles—such as Waymo and Tesla Robotaxi services—and the lack of dedicated, intelligent infrastructure at commercial destinations. Autolane’s solution acts as an “air traffic control” for the curb, coordinating autonomous arrivals, authenticating parking, and managing stalls in real-time via a cloud-based dashboard.
Pilot programs, including an initial test site in the San Francisco Bay Area since May 2025, have already demonstrated the system’s ability to reduce curbside pickup and handoff times by 50% or more, validating the need for operational efficiencies.
Strategic Deployment with Retail Giant Simon®
The collaboration with Simon®, a global real estate investment trust, sees Autolane’s technology deployed at The Domain® and Barton Creek Square™ in Austin, Texas, alongside Stanford Shopping Center® and Great Mall® in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Andy Hutcherson, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Customer Experience at Simon, underscored the proactive strategy. “This collaboration with Autolane allows us to integrate advanced curbside technology that enhances operational efficiency, improves the guest experience, and positions our centers to support the next generation of autonomous transportation and delivery.”
The importance of solving this final logistics hurdle—often called the “last fifty feet”—was emphasized by the company’s backers.
“Autonomous mobility has transitioned from experimental to inevitable, and the missing piece is infrastructure that can operate at scale,” said Samara Gordon, General Partner at Hyperplane. “Autolane has built the connective tissue that lets autonomous vehicles function in the environments where people and goods move every day.”
Tim Draper, Founding Partner at Draper Associates, highlighted the chaos that could ensue without this crucial infrastructure. “Autonomous vehicles are transforming transportation, but without proper infrastructure at destinations, we risk chaos at the curb. Autolane is building the essential layer that connects autonomous vehicles to the places people want to go.”
Ben Seidl, CEO and cofounder of Autolane, sees the partnership as validation of their vision. “Our technology creates orchestrated handoff zones that can serve both autonomous ride-hailing passengers and delivery vehicles… solving the critical ‘last fifty feet’ challenge at scale.”
Editorial Opinion: The Unseen Infrastructure of Autonomy
The investment in Autolane signals a vital recognition in the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry: the true bottleneck to scalability is no longer the self-driving software itself, but the chaotic real-world environments—specifically, the curb and the parking lot. Autolane is not building a car; it is building the language and order required for autonomous fleets to operate efficiently in human spaces. This curbside operating system has the potential to become the ubiquitous standard, much like operating systems became essential for computers.
The strategic choice to partner with Simon®, which operates some of the highest-traffic commercial real estate in the US, provides an invaluable proving ground. The environments at these shopping centers are complex, congested, and varied, offering the exact stress test required to refine a scalable, cloud-based platform. By demonstrating 50% or more reduction in handoff times, Autolane is offering a direct, measurable return on investment for retailers struggling with logistics. This foundational work on private property—avoiding the slower regulatory pace of public streets—positions Autolane to become an indispensable component for any entity seeking to leverage AVs for last-mile delivery and ride-hailing services. The company is, quite simply, defining the operational framework for the autonomous economy.
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