The autonomous vehicle technology developer, spun out of MIT, has secured $18m in series A funding to increase its vehicle fleet and expand its team.

Optimus Ride, a US-based driverless vehicle technology developer spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has closed an $18m series A round led by venture capital firm Greycroft Partners.

VC firm Fraser McCombs Capital, philanthropic organisation Emerson Collective and Joi Ito, director at interdisciplinary research laboratory MIT Media Lab, also contributed to the round.

Optimus Ride is developing a fully autonomous system for fleets of electric vehicles. The degree of automation, known as level 4 in the industry, means…