The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies Starsky Robotics: 1 model, 1 deployment across 1 region, $21.5M raised. 3 sources back the record.
CategoryTrucks
Overview
Starsky Robotics was an autonomous trucking company based in San Francisco, California, that developed a hybrid system combining highway autonomy with remote human teleoperation for last-mile navigation. Founded in 2016 by Stefan Seltz-Axmacher and Kartik Tiwari, the company conducted the first driverless freight run on a public highway—a 9.4-mile trip on the Florida Turnpike in June 2019 with no safety driver. Starsky ceased operations in March 2020 after a $20M Series B fell through, citing declining investor enthusiasm for AV technology and slower-than-expected technical progress.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
Company-claimedPriced roundSeries A post-money
Key facts
CEO
Co-founder
Total fundingsee investors →
First driverless freight run
Shutdown date
Autonomy level
Notable investor
Partnership
Data & sources
News coverage
1
Web sources
2
3 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Partnerships
Every company Starsky Robotics has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1Loadsmart1× joint
Most recent
- Starsky Robotics x Loadsmart2019-06-19with Loadsmartoperating
Starsky Robotics on the deployment map
View the global map1 verified deployment across 1 region, newest verified Jun 2018. Explore where Starsky Robotics's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Starsky Robotics deployment record →
Relationships
Founders (2)
- Stefan Seltz-Axmachercofounderno longer at company
- Kartik Tiwaticofounderno longer at company
Former / Previously (2)
- Stefan Seltz-Axmacher Co-founder & CEOsecondary-verified
- Kartik Tiwati Co-foundersecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for Starsky Robotics.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Starsky Robotics1 deployment
Recent coverage
Starsky Robotics in third-party press
Peer companies
- Tesla4 models
- Waymo4 models
- Aurora Innovation3 models
- BelAZ2 models
- Caterpillar2 models
- Caterpillar Mining2 models
Financial state
- Total funding
- $21.5M
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- wound_down
- Counterparty risk class
- unknown
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
1 total · 1 operating · 1 ended
Every company Starsky Robotics has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- Starsky Robotics x Loadsmart2019-06-19with Loadsmartoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1Loadsmart1× joint
All 1 partnerships
open in the atlas →- Starsky Robotics x LoadsmartwithLoadsmartdeployment2019-06-19concludedoperating
Funding rounds (2)
Starsky Robotics’s 2 disclosed rounds, $22M in total, oldest to newest.
- Series A2018-03-08
$17M(reported) · $99M post
Investors: Shasta Ventures (lead)
- Seed2017-01-01
$5M(reported) · $20M post
Investors: Y Combinator (lead)
Timeline
Every recorded move in Starsky Robotics’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
PartnershipStarsky Robotics x Loadsmart
2019-06-19Loadsmart and Starsky Robotics completed the first-ever automated dispatch and delivery using an autonomous truck. Loadsmart's platform dispatched a Starsky autonomous truck to haul freight without human intervention in the dispatch process.
Funding roundSeries A funding round
2018-03-08Series A raising $16500000
Funding roundSeed funding round
2017-01-01Seed raising $5000000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdAug 8, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJun 1, 2018
Starsky Autonomous Truck System at Florida Turnpike, Florida, USA
Sources (3)
Common questions
What is Starsky Robotics?
What does Starsky Robotics make?
Who competes with Starsky Robotics?
Who is the CEO of Starsky Robotics?
Where is Starsky Robotics headquartered?
How much funding has Starsky Robotics raised?
Where does Starsky Robotics operate robots?
How many robots has Starsky Robotics deployed?
Is Starsky Robotics a top robotics company?
Is Starsky Robotics safe?
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
- 1
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Starsky Robotics.Peer companies
- Tesla4 models
- Waymo4 models
- Aurora Innovation3 models
- BelAZ2 models
- Caterpillar2 models
- Caterpillar Mining2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Starsky Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Self-Driving Truck Startup Starsky Robotics Shuts Down After Series B Falls Through
Crunchbase News coverage of Starsky Robotics shutting down after a 0M Series B round fell through, having raised about 0M total since 2015.
Starsky Robotics - Wikipedia
Wikipedia article on Starsky Robotics, an autonomous trucking company that conducted the first driverless freight run on a public highway before shutting down in March 2020.
The End of Starsky Robotics
Co-founder and CEO Stefan Seltz-Axmacher's candid postmortem on Starsky Robotics' shutdown, attributing its fate to timing, declining investor interest in AV tech, and the…
Loadsmart completes first-ever automated dispatch and delivery with Starsky Robotics autonomous truck
PR Newswire announcement of Loadsmart and Starsky Robotics completing the first-ever automated dispatch and delivery using an autonomous truck.
Starsky Robotics Unleashes Its Truly Driverless Truck in Florida
WIRED coverage of Starsky Robotics completing the first unmanned freight run on the Florida Turnpike, a 9.4-mile driverless trip with no safety driver.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/starsky-robotics.md
- RSS feed: /companies/starsky-robotics/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/99e092dd-79e4-430d-b418-a36bd80a8b12
- Revision history: /companies/starsky-robotics/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Tesla4 models
- Waymo4 models
- Aurora Innovation3 models
- BelAZ2 models
- Caterpillar2 models
- Caterpillar Mining2 models
Video
In June 2019, Starsky Robotics completed the first unmanned test on a public highway. Starsky’s autonomous truck drove for 9.4 miles along Florida’s Turnpike wi
Starsky Robotics laid off some of its drivers recently. They tried to keep it quiet but I found out about it. Why did Starsky Robotics lay off some truck driv
Short-documentary on Starsky Robotics and how it's CEO, Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, thinks driverless trucks will affect the world. Directed by Ben Strang at Bluepr
One February 3, 2017 Starsky Robotics moved their first freight on the highway. Learn more about us at starskyrobotics.com
Starsky Robotics set a record for the fastest unmanned road-legal vehicle. The Starsky truck hit 55 MPH with nobody on board in a recent test on the Selmon Expr
Starsky Robotics is building a better future in truck driving. We're looking for ambitious CDL truck drivers to join our team and grow with us. If you want a ca
Footage of Starsky Robotics completing an unmanned test run in February 2018 on a closed-off section of a two-lane Florida county road, marking what the company
See link for more details: https://bit.ly/2IaGv5f ------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/FW-subscribe --------
Heat Index
Category contender77/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Starsky Robotics draws attention at the 43rd percentile but verifies reality at the 4th percentile among truck robots. Hype Gap +39.1, 7th widest among truck robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 23, 2026