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Microsoft plans to invest over $10 million in a financing round
that values Gatik at more than $700 million, the sources added.
As part of the deal, Gatik will use Microsoft's cloud and edge
computing platform Azure in developing autonomous delivery
technology for trucks.
The terms of the deal could still change, added the sources, who
requested anonymity to discuss private matters.
Microsoft and Gatik declined to comment.
Like other big tech companies, Microsoft has recently been
putting funds into self-driving technology. In January 2021,
Microsoft invested in GM-owned Cruise, which focuses on
robotaxis, in a deal that valued the company at $30 billion.
Cruise plans to use Azure to ramp up its autonomous vehicle
solutions for commercial uses, and competes with Alphabet's
Waymo and Amazon's Zoox.
Autonomous driving technologies are seen as revolutionary to the
transportation and logistics industry, but have faced setbacks
due to regulatory concerns on safety and less accessible funding
in a slowing market.
In November, Ford and Volkswagen shut down their self-driving
technology unit, Argo AI, saying that creating self-driving "robotaxis"
would be "harder than putting a man on the moon."
Gatik, founded in 2017 by industry veterans Gautam Narang and
Arjun Narang, focuses on middle-mile, business-to-business
logistics for the retail industry.
Since 2021, it has launched fully driverless commercial delivery
services with Walmart Inc and Loblaw Companies Ltd, in which
Gatik offers short-haul deliveries in box trucks in Arkansas and
in Ontario, Canada.
It has raised more than $120 million from investors including
Koch Disruptive Technologies, Innovation Endeavors, Goodyear
Ventures and RyderVentures.
In the first quarter this year, Gatik plans to integrate its
class 6 autonomous box trucks into the Pitney Bowes ecommerce
logistics network in Dallas, Texas, aiming to boost deliveries
and reduce logistics costs.
(Reporting by Krystal Hu and Joe White; Editing by Edmund
Klamann)
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