U.S. logistics startup Humble Robotics has raised $51 million in Series A funding, securing total investment of more than $75 million. On Nov. 10 (local time), electric vehicle outlet Electrek reported that the company plans to use the funds to move its unmanned battery-electric freight platform from the prototype stage to a pre-production phase.

Obvious Ventures led the round, and existing investors Eclipse and Energy Impact Partners also participated. Humble Robotics plans to use the funds for customer pilots, testing and validation, and early manufacturing.

Humble Robotics is developing its freight platform in a different way from typical self-driving trucks. Instead of making a tractor driverless, it redesigned the container chassis as a vehicle from the ground up. The platform is designed to move container cargo without a driver seat or a truck, targeting dock-to-dock transport.

Chief Executive Eyal Cohen (에얄 코헨) said building a self-driving system that freight operators can use reliably every day is more important than the truck's autonomous driving itself.

Humble Robotics first unveiled the "Humble Hauler" in May. The goal is to improve container loading efficiency by reducing the weight taken up by a sleeper cab, a standard driver seat and the truck itself.

The vehicle combines cameras, lidar and radar to detect its surroundings in 360 degrees. Without a driver seat, it also reduced structures that block visibility. It was designed to respond to new situations by applying a vision-language-action model.

Humble Robotics said it emerged from stealth after raising $24 million and completed the first "Humble Hauler" prototype in less than 6 months. It is currently preparing autonomous driving tests with multiple logistics partners.