Aerospace company Boeing (BA) - Get Report on Thursday announced that it made an investment into Pittsburgh-based Near Earth Autonomy, a startup developing technology that enables safe, and reliable autonomous flights.

The investment was made via the aerospace company's venture fund, Boeing HorizonX Ventures, and marks its first investment into autonomous technologies.

Along with the investment, Boeing announced a partnership with Near Earth Autonomy to examine future products and applications for emerging markets, including urban mobility.

"This partnership will accelerate technology solutions that we feel will be key to unlocking emerging markets of autonomous flight," said Steve Nordlund, Boeing HorizonX VP. "We are excited to begin this partnership with a company with such a depth of experience in autonomy so we can leverage the scale of Boeing to innovate for our customers."

Shares of Boeing were lower in early morning trading on Thursday.

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