Scarcely a day goes by in Boston’s technology sector without a promising company raising what in most businesses would be a monumental sum. Tens and sometimes hundreds of millions fly around with scarcely an eyebrow raised.

But the announcement Wednesday that eight-year-old Cambridge Mobile Telematics had taken in a half-billion dollars in venture investment shows that there are still some cash infusions big enough to astonish.

The 70-person firm, which uses data from smartphones and other electronics to measure how drivers behave, had reported raising just $2.5 million since its founders spun their research out of MIT in 2010.

The SoftBank Vision Fund plunked down $500 million for a minority stake in the firm, betting that the company’s technology can help remake the insurance industry by providing more accurate data about how people operate their vehicles, and encouraging safer driving.

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