San Francisco startup Humble Robotics has raised $51 million to develop electric autonomous trucks designed without a cab. The funding will support customer pilots using conventional trucks before the company tests its own vehicle, though commercial service still depends on technical validation and regulatory approvals.
Founder and CEO Eyal Cohen has worked on Apple’s discontinued self-driving car project, Uber’s autonomous-driving business and truck developer Waabi.
Funding brings total raised to $75 million
Obvious Ventures led the round, with existing investors Eclipse and Energy Impact Partners also participating. Humble has now raised $75 million in total. The company did not disclose its valuation.
Cohen founded Humble last year with the aim of designing trucks and autonomous systems together, rather than adding self-driving technology to vehicles built for human drivers. The company’s approach combines an electric chassis with no cab, shaping the vehicle around driverless operation from the outset.
The raise comes as investors increase their focus on robotics and “physical AI.” But autonomous trucking companies still face the challenge of moving from tests to reliable operation on public roads. The funding does not, on its own, establish that Humble’s model is commercially viable.
Customer pilots will start with conventional trucks
Humble has not begun commercial freight operations. Cohen said the company plans to launch customer pilots in the first quarter of 2027, initially moving cargo with conventional trucks and gathering route data. It will then simulate those routes and test its own Humble Hauler in virtual environments before gradually deploying the vehicle. Cohen expects commercial operations to begin in the third quarter of 2027.
The company holds a California permit to test vehicles with a safety driver onboard. Driverless testing or commercial service in the state would require further regulatory steps, making the timeline dependent on test results and additional approvals.
Humble is targeting regional routes of up to 250 miles, linking ports, warehouses and distribution centers. Federal data show that in 2021, 87% of U.S. truck freight by weight traveled less than 250 miles. These fixed or relatively short routes are the company’s planned entry point into the market.
Cabless design targets yards and loading docks
Unlike companies focused primarily on highway routes, Humble aims to handle more complex parts of the freight network, including busy industrial sites and loading docks. Cohen said the truck is being designed for fully autonomous operation, with electric propulsion and no cab.
The company tests at a former explosives plant across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The site is operated by the University of California, Berkeley, and is used by students and startups for research and development. In a demonstration, the vehicle navigated stop signs, wild turkeys and students walking between buildings. The test truck still had a temporary cab to support supervised trials.
Humble says the final vehicle will use a large skateboard-style platform capable of carrying a 40-foot container, with no space reserved for a human driver. The company has hired staff from Tesla, Waymo and Cruise as it develops its prototype into a commercial product. Cohen said Humble ultimately hopes to build a range of autonomous vehicles for different cargo types and routes.
Other driverless freight projects face safety and deployment hurdles
Autonomous trucks were once seen as potential candidates to reach commercial operation before driverless taxis, partly because highways have fewer pedestrians, cyclists and sudden turns. But trucks carry heavy loads and need longer stopping distances. A breakdown or stalled vehicle on a highway can create serious road hazards.
Some companies have begun moving driverless freight into commercial use. Pittsburgh-based Aurora has launched autonomous freight service in Texas and works with PACCAR and Volvo. Bay Area company Kodiak AI plans to transport goods for IKEA by year-end, with human drivers handling the first and last legs.
Cohen argues that autonomous trucks could take on less popular overnight shifts and repetitive, short-distance routes, leaving human drivers to move into other jobs. He cited shifts from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. and repeated short routes as work that drivers may be reluctant to take. Humble’s next milestones are completing its customer pilots, validating data from real routes and securing the permits required for driverless testing and commercial operations.