Autolane is building ‘air traffic control’ for autonomous vehicles

The rapid wave of robotaxi deployments from companies like Waymo and Zoox has sparked fresh excitement across the industry about how autonomous vehicles could reshape everyday life. Beyond driverless taxi rides, the possibilities include sending a self-driving car to handle errands like grocery pickup or dry cleaning.

For those use cases to become reality, one key challenge must be solved: the precise handoff moments — such as where exactly an autonomous vehicle should pull in to receive the items. Palo Alto-based Autolane is tackling that missing layer of infrastructure, and it has now secured $7.4 million in new funding to move forward.

Backed by investors like Draper Associates and Hyperplane, Autolane says it will begin by coordinating pickup and drop-off points for businesses that want to allow robotaxis on their private property. The startup recently signed a partnership with Simon Property Group to manage autonomous vehicle arrivals and departures at the company’s shopping centres in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California.

The work will involve both physical infrastructure — such as signage similar to dedicated Uber or Lyft zones at airports and hotels — and software that manages precise coordination.

Autolane co-founder and CEO Ben Seidl told TechCrunch that the company aims to be one of the first “application layer” players in the autonomy ecosystem.

“We’re not building the cars and we’re not developing the core models,” Seidl said. “We’re simply stepping in as the industry expands rapidly. Someone needs to organize, coordinate, and interpret what’s happening as autonomous deployments scale.”

Although Autolane’s initial focus is robotaxis, Seidl is thinking beyond that — envisioning the same infrastructure being used for autonomous vehicles performing a variety of real-world tasks in the future. He believes the startup must move quickly, describing the current market as wide open with no direct competitors yet.

His confidence grew after buying a Tesla last year and trying its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature.

“When my own car was driving me around almost flawlessly, my mind just exploded,” he said. “It’s going to change logistics, retail, real estate — everything about how people and goods move.”

Seidl referenced the viral incident in which a Waymo robotaxi became stuck in a Chick-fil-A drive-through in Santa Monica as a perfect example of why Autolane’s solution is needed. Without clear, designated routing, he said, driverless vehicles can easily get confused. Autolane’s system would guide vehicles to an exact, approved pickup or drop-off spot, preventing such mishaps.

“Someone has to bring order to this chaos — and the chaos is already beginning,” he said.

While businesses could theoretically handle some of the physical setup on their own, Seidl argues that autonomy requires far more than just putting up a sign.

“That works for humans. But robots need precise geolocation, data communication, and exact instructions,” he said. “You can’t expect 10 different autonomous systems to interpret a generic sign correctly.”

Autolane’s value, he explains, comes from integrating its system with property owners and robotaxi providers alike. The company plans to create APIs for physical locations so autonomous vehicles can receive structured, real-time instructions.

“You need direct integration with each robotics and automotive company so that their AVs follow your rules,” he said.

Notably, Autolane does not plan to work with city governments or public spaces.

“We stay out of public streets and public parking,” Seidl said. “This is strictly a B2B hardware-enabled SaaS solution. We serve companies like Costco, McDonald’s, Home Depot, or — as in our case — Simon Property Group, the world’s largest retail REIT. We give them what is essentially ‘air traffic control for autonomous vehicles,’ showing them which ones are incoming and outgoing.”