Autonomous driving startups are pitching investors at a record pace in 2026
Trucks VC has heard from 81 new autonomous vehicle startups this year, more than in the boom of 2016, as foundation models lower the cost of getting started.
Early-stage investor Trucks VC says it has received pitches from 81 new autonomous vehicle startups so far in 2026. That is about two-thirds more than in 2025 and more than in the peak years of 2016 and 2017. The firm argues in a new blog post that a second, bigger wave of self-driving companies is under way.
Partner Puneeth Meruva points to foundation models as the reason. They handle many different places and situations, which could make vehicles cheaper and quicker to put on the road. Open source models such as Nvidia's Alpamayo and Qwen's vision-language-action models help newcomers too. Trucks VC sees startups reach deployment within a few months on less than $1 million raised. Many pitches target robotaxis, and several founders aim to compete with Waymo. Meruva expects even more pitches next year.
Why it matters
If building a driving system gets this cheap, the field may fill with small firms serving single regions or specific route types rather than one global winner. The numbers come from one investor's deal flow, so they show interest, not working services. Trucks VC did not name the startups it has backed. Watch which of these companies launch paid rides or freight runs, and whether safety regulators keep pace with so many new entrants.
