Apex.AI secures funding from Volvo Group Venture Capital, HELLA Ventures and InMotion Ventures
Apex.AI announced Volvo Group Venture Capital, HELLA Ventures, and Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital arm InMotion Ventures as new investors in the company.
Apex.AI is eager to leverage their deep expertise in the mobility industry to move Apex.AI forward.
Apex.AI, a Palo Alto, California-based company founded in 2017, is building an automotive-grade version of ROS (Robot Operating System), an established open source software framework commonly used in robotics and autonomous systems research. By providing a safer and more reliable version of ROS that will be certified according to the functional safety standard ISO 26262, Apex.AI enables companies to take their autonomous vehicle projects into production.
Volvo Group is one of the largest manufacturers of heavy-duty vehicles, trucks, buses, and construction equipment and Jaguar Land Rover brings decades of experience as a beloved high-end car manufacturer. HELLA is a leading international supplier of automotive electronics and lighting. This builds on our bench of existing backers, which include Toyota AI Ventures, Airbus Ventures, Canaan Partners, Lightspeed Ventures and others.
The investment comes at a time of massive change for the mobility industry. As the development of autonomous systems advances, companies need software that is safe and reliable to run them—a critical element as the industry moves from research to commercialisation.
Apex.AI was founded on the premise of developing technology that can launch into products within 3 years to make mobility safer and more reliable. Apex.OS, the company's flagship product, will launch to the automotive market early 2020 and subsequently expand to other safety-critical autonomous systems, such as industrial robotics and aerospace. The new strategic investments are evidence of Apex.OS's broad applicability from traditional automotive to off-highway sectors (e.g. construction, mining, agriculture), industrial robotics, and aerospace.
Anna Westerberg, acting CEO of Volvo Group Venture Capital and SVP Volvo Group Connected Solutions, said: “We are excited to invest in a company that enables easier development of safety-certified systems.”
Marco Marinucci, Partner at HELLA Ventures, said: “We believe that Apex.AI is uniquely positioned in the autonomous vehicle space. With L4/5 autonomy taking longer and costing more than initially anticipated, Apex.AI enables the automotive industry to shorten the time from R&D to development. Apex.OS, a software development environment that is based on ROS 2 and meets the highest functional safety standards, solves a real need in the industry and we are excited to be along for the ride.”
Sebastian Peck, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures, said: “InMotion Ventures is excited to back Apex.AI. Jan and Dejan have assembled a highly experienced team to deliver safe and certified software for autonomous mobility. We look forward to supporting Apex.AI alongside other leading strategic investors on their journey.”
Apex.AI secures funding from Volvo Group Venture Capital, HELLA Ventures and InMotion Ventures
Modified on Friday 6th December 2019
Find all articles related to:
Apex.AI secures funding from Volvo Group Venture Capital, HELLA Ventures and InMotion Ventures