Ford has invested in Silicon Valley start-up Autonomic, a company founded last summer, according to a US report.
New media website axios.com, citing an SEC filing (which did not mention the automaker), said Autonomic had raised almost US$11m.
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The report said Autonomic founders were previously at Pivotal, a software development consulting firm in which Ford invested last year. CEO Sundeep Madra and COO Amar Varma co-founded Xtreme Labs, which built and designed mobile apps for its clients, which was sold to Pivotal 2013.
The report said little was known about what Autonomic is doing but it is known to be working on software related to self-driving cars.
According to axios.com, Chamath Palihapitiya, a partner with Social Capital said at a conference his firm recently co-invested with Ford on a new company, although he did not identify Autonomic. Palihapitiya added that the deal was structured so that the automaker has been given the right to buy the company down the road. "And we'll see if they'll exercise that right," said Palihapitiya.
Neither Ford, Social Capital nor Autonomic returned the website's requests for comment.
