# David Hodge

> David Hodge is a San Francisco software founder, engineer, and investor whose career has followed transportation from subway maps to connected cars. After co-founding Embark from a USC dorm room, selling it to Apple, and helping build transit into Apple Maps, he created the Nikola app for Tesla owners and turned that consumer experiment into Standard Fleet, a platform for telematics, digital keys, payments, and vehicle operations across more than 30 automakers.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Standard Fleet
- **Organizations:** Standard Fleet, Nikola Software, Apple, Embark, Y Combinator
- **Education:** B.S. in Computer Science and Business Administration, University of Southern California
- **Known for:** Co-founded Embark and expanded it to 14 city transit apps before Apple acquired the company in 2013., Led engineering work at Apple after the Embark acquisition and contributed to the Transit experience in Apple Maps., Won the 2012 MTA App Quest grand prize with Embark NYC, selected from 42 submissions.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Co-founded Embark while an undergraduate at USC, beginning with a Bay Area transit app.
- **2011** — Graduated from USC and took Embark through Y Combinator's Summer 2011 batch.
- **2012** — Embark NYC won the grand prize in the MTA App Quest; Embark also received New York City's Best Mobility Application honor.
- **2013** — Apple acquired Embark for an undisclosed amount.
- **2013-2016** — Worked at Apple as an engineering manager, integrating the Embark team and contributing to Apple Maps transit.
- **2018-2022** — Built and operated Nikola Software, a data and convenience app for Tesla owners.
- **2021** — Standard Fleet, Inc. was formed to build software for connected vehicle fleets.
- **2022** — Publicly launched Standard Fleet's fleet management service.
- **2023** — Standard Fleet announced a $7 million seed round and nearly 100,000 connected EVs.
- **2025** — Standard Fleet raised a $13 million Series A and expanded its hardware-free Digital Key platform.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Embark and expanded it to 14 city transit apps before Apple acquired the company in 2013.
- Led engineering work at Apple after the Embark acquisition and contributed to the Transit experience in Apple Maps.
- Won the 2012 MTA App Quest grand prize with Embark NYC, selected from 42 submissions.
- Received USC's Student Innovator of the Year recognition for mobile application work.
- Built Nikola, a Tesla owner app that supplied the product learning behind Standard Fleet.
- Raised $20 million in disclosed funding for Standard Fleet across its seed and Series A rounds.
- Built Standard Fleet to support more than 30 automaker brands and over 100,000 connected vehicles.
- Made early investments in software and aerospace companies including Relativity Space, Astranis, Fly.io, REGENT, Inversion, and AstroForge.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Standard Fleet published new guidance describing digital keys for rental fleets and a software-first onboarding workflow using built-in OEM connectivity.
- **2026-06** — Standard Fleet published its hardware-free telematics framework for real-time fleet data without aftermarket installation.
- **2026-05** — Hodge shared an all-team offsite update and said Standard Fleet was hiring software engineers to build consumer-grade software for fleet operations.
- **2025-09** — Standard Fleet announced a $13 million Series A led by Nova Threshold, taking disclosed funding to $20 million and expanding Digital Key to mixed fleets.

## Links

- Website: https://davidhodge.net/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidwhodge
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/DavidHodge
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p8AsQhaVKI&t=2613s

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-hodge
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18