Transportation has always been ripe for innovation. Whether it’s electrifying or automating an age-old machine or keeping drivers’ eyes on the road, organizations are looking for improvement. From established players to upstarts, these companies have shown meaningful innovation in transportation.
Arc
For electrifying wake boats
The Arc Sport is built to be more powerful, cheaper to operate, and quieter than any traditional gas-guzzling boat. Created by a team of rocket and EV engineer alumni from SpaceX, Tesla, Rivian, and Snap, Arc designed and manufactured many components in-house to deliver the electric boat. For perspective, the 226 kWh structurally integrated battery pack is roughly three times the size of a Tesla Model Y’s battery.
Aurora
For powering trucks to drive themselves
We’ve been tracking Aurora for quite some time. The autonomous vehicle company, which has hauled more than 80 million pounds of cargo, delivered over 6,000 loads of freight for its pilot customers, and recently fundraised, is expected to drive a commercial launch by April 2025.
SandboxAQ
For protecting GPS systems
Launched in June, SandboxAQ’s AQNav is a magnetic navigation system that supplements vulnerable GPS signals that are at risk of being denied, jammed, or spoofed. It’s powered by quantum sensors, proprietary AI algorithms, and the Earth’s crustal magnetic field to help navigation in instances when GPS signals are unavailable or unreliable.
Sift
For making it easier to observe key data
Founded by former SpaceX engineers, Sift provides engineers with a unified solution for crucial telemetry data. Sift offers what it calls a “unified solution” for ingesting, storing, and analyzing real-time data generated by complex hardware systems. It raised a total of $25 million, including a $7.5 million seed round last year and a $17.5 million Series A round led by Google’s venture arm GV in June.
Volvo Cars
For protecting vulnerable drivers
Drowsiness and distractions are major hazards to drivers. Volvo Cars’ new driver understanding system uses real-time sensing of gaze patterns and steering behavior to understand when a driver is in a suboptimal state for driving. Found in the Volvo EX90 SUV, the vehicle will alert the driver with a soft nudge at first, followed by a more consistent notification. If a driver falls asleep or becomes incapacitated, the Volvo EX90 is designed to stop and call for help.
The companies behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2024. See a full list of all the winners across all categories and read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
The application deadline for Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards is Friday, December 6, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
