GM invests in self-driving software developer

General Motors and Japan’s Softbank are among the latest investors in Nauto, a Silicon Valley start-up developing software for self-driving vehicles.

Nauto, based in Palo Alto, this week closed a $159 million (€138m) Series B funding round, led by Softbank and venture capital firm Greylock Partners. Previous investors include BMW, Toyota and insurer Allianz.

Nauto is unusual in attracting money from big-name carmakers, and also in its focus on software and data, which cost less to develop than hardware or entire vehicles.