Autolane is a Palo Alto-based company, founded in 2024, that builds curbside infrastructure for autonomous vehicles — an "air traffic control" layer that coordinates autonomous pickup, drop-off, and delivery on private property. Its platform pairs smart curbside signs — multi-sensor kits installed at parking stalls without construction — with cloud software, the Autolane OS dashboard and OpenCurb OS, that provides real-time orchestration APIs for retailers, shopping centers, grocers, and quick-serve restaurants.
Autolane was founded by Ben Seidl (CEO), Andy Seidl, and 📝Chad Agate (co-founder and CTO). After launching its first full-scale test site in the San Francisco Bay Area in May 2025, the company reported that dedicated autonomous-vehicle infrastructure cut curbside pickup times by 50% or more. In December 2025 it raised a $7.4 million seed round co-led by Draper Associates and Hyperplane, with participation from LAUNCH and Feld Ventures, and launched its curbside operating system at Simon shopping centers including The Domain and Barton Creek Square in Austin and Stanford Shopping Center and Great Mall in the Bay Area. Customers and partners include Simon Property Group, Federal Realty Investment Trust, and 📝NVIDIA; the company frames its market around an anticipated 10 million autonomous vehicles operating at American curbs by 2030.
Chad is a friend and a founder here — Autolane is in my library because I'm tracking what he builds.