BestMile raises additional $1M and secures 500K FIT early loan

In July, BestMile published the closing of its first round of funding at $2.5M. Today, the Swiss startup unveiled a second closing of $1M for the Seed round boosting it to $3.5M. Secured during the summer, the additional funds to power BestMile’s growth were brought by private investors from Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, United State and Japan.

In addition to the $3.5M Seed round, BestMile is benefiting from a $500K FIT Early Loan from the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT). The support of the prestigious organization is a testimony of BestMile’s rapid evolution and establishment as a reliable and promising company. Over the past 22 years, the Foundation has provided loans to 162 rigorously chosen innovative projects for a total amount of more than $23M.

“The funds will be used to accelerate BestMile’s growth and international expansion. It also allows the company to benefit from extended international support and network. This achievement also puts us in an ideal position for the Serie A, which is already in progress.” explains Raphaël Gindrat, CEO of BestMile.

Bestmile achieves 10’000 Passengers and further milestones
The company is currently scaling both in Switzerland and in the US to match the increasing number of requests and projects as well as the market’s unfolding. BestMile already has an impressive portfolio of strategic partners such as Trapeze, the leading software provider for public transport and the autonomous shuttles manufacturers Local Motors, Navya, Hi-Tech Robotic Systemz and Next Future Transportation.

Moreover, BestMile’s project “SmartShuttle” in partnership with PostBus, leading the first instance of electric autonomous shuttles circulating through a city center and servicing the public on a daily basis, recently reached the milestone of 10’000 passengers.

The future of autonomous vehicles
Autonomous mobility is no longer science fiction. It’s here today, and BestMile is the first company allowing autonomous vehicles to be managed as a fleet. BestMile posits that in the long run, and at the scale required to support thousands of autonomous vehicles, there is an even greater need for a global fleet management solution to optimize real-time dispatching and routing, network between fleets, and reduce the ecological footprint. The cloud platform is operating as the backbone for various mobility providers – both public and private – to integrate and offer effective mobility services for wide-ranging applications, including public bus and shuttle services, taxi fleets, ride-sharing and car-sharing services, among others.