CARLSBAD, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 16, 2017) - Providing advanced 3D technology, TetraVue today announced the close of its Series A funding at $10M. The financing is led by Robert Bosch Venture Capital and Nautilus Venture Partners, and joined by Samsung Catalyst Fund as well as Foxconn. The funding will enable TetraVue to bring its Ultra High Definition, Solid State Flash LIDAR to the autonomous car industry, and to be the leader in Vision for Things (VfT).
"We are thrilled to share that TetraVue has officially closed its largest round of funding to date," said Paul Banks, Founder and President of TetraVue. "Our passionate team has dedicated their careers to researching and developing the technology that TetraVue is today and we plan to use this financial support to continue to deliver state of the art 3D vision technology to enable smart vision for smarter machines."
TetraVue makes collecting high resolution 3D data and imagery simple and cost effective as autonomous cars become a reality within the next few years. It's currently developing partnerships with car manufacturers, auto AI software developers, and other hardware makers to be an intricate part of what can only be described as the "eyes and brain" of self-driving vehicles.
"TetraVue is unparalleled to any other existing technologies in the three-dimensional Flash LIDAR space," said Luis Llovera, Managing Director of Robert Bosch Venture Capital. "We see its technology as being key to the enhancement and development of the autonomous car industry, which will be the future of transportation as we know it."
TetraVue's Ultra High Definition resolution helps robust identification of unexpected and dangerous obstacles at hundreds of meters that is not being done on cars today -- and needed to reach true autonomy. As on-board computers will make split second decisions to adapt to road conditions and react to the unexpected, car vision and LIDAR systems will have to determine at a safe distance what the nature of the obstacle is accurately and instantly; distance alone scanned a few points at a time is insufficient.
"TetraVue's LIDAR gives cars perfect vision, and allows them to make better decisions," said Connie Sheng, Founding Managing Director at Nautilus Venture Partners. "Imagine a car being able to instantly determine if a black spot is a rock or a plastic bag." While distance has been used as the current benchmark for LIDAR performance, high definition is a critical element to ensure optimal safety and operation on the roads.
For more information on how TetraVue works, its products for Vision for Things (VfT), and its plans for future developments, please visit: http://www.tetravue.com.
About TetraVue
Founded in 2008, TetraVue's Ultra High Resolution products take an entirely new approach to Flash LIDAR technology and are a product of several years of experimental research. TetraVue's technology results in 2 million or more simultaneous distance measurements of ranges -- greater than 200 meters in any weather conditions and utilizes orders of magnitude less power than competitors. This performance is optimal for the autonomous car industry, and TetraVue plans to miniaturize and commercialize its fully functioning prototype. As the visualization needs of businesses and consumers become more sophisticated, increasingly complex machines require a 3D depth vision for maximal efficiency. TetraVue's 3D camera will also play a large role across industries such as enterprise level mapping and augmented reality.
About RBVC GmbH
Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) is the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services. RBVC invests worldwide in innovative start-up companies at all stages of their development. Its investment activities focus on technology companies working in areas of business of current and future relevance for Bosch, above all, automation and electrification, energy efficiency, enabling technologies, and healthcare systems. RBVC also invests in services and business models that are relevant to the above-mentioned areas of business.
Additional information is available at: www.rbvc.com
About Nautilus Venture Partners
Nautilus Venture Partners is a Silicon Valley based venture capital firm specializing in early stage technology investments. It seeks to invest in mobile sectors, IoT, Robotics, Data and Artificial Intelligence. We connect best-in-class innovators with global leading corporates together with unyielding commitments to support talented entrepreneurs to achieve their vision of changing the world for better.
For more information, please visit: www.nautilusvp.com