Menlo Park, California-based Helm.ai Inc., which designs software for innovative driver assistance systems, autonomous driving, and robotics, has closed a $31 million round of funding.
The Freeman Group served as the lead investor in the Series C round, including Honda Motor Co., ACVC Partners, and Amplo Ltd. Up to this point, investors have pumped $78 million into Helm.ai.
Due to this most recent round, the company’s valuation has climbed to $431 million. About $26 million was raised by the startup last year.
The firm for autonomous vehicles will utilize the money from its most recent investment round to boost its research and development initiatives. The startup will also contribute a share of the funding to further its commercialization efforts.
“This new capital will increase our AI offerings for autonomous driving and robotics applications and expand the commercialization footprint of our cutting-edge AI software stack,” said Helm.ai CEO Vlad Voroninski.
The startup Helm.ai provides a software platform for automakers to create self-driving cars. According to the business, Level 4 autonomy can be implemented using its platform. In most circumstances, a vehicle with Level 4 autonomy can operate without human intervention.
The Helm.ai platform is based on an AI approach known as unsupervised learning
According to Helm.ai, its platform can also support other use cases. In addition to powering robots, it is also used in advanced driver assistance systems, which allow cars to automate certain aspects of driving.
In contrast to many competing offerings on the market, the startup’s platform uses a different approach to artificial intelligence. As a result, the startup claims its software is reliable and reduces the costs associated with building autonomous vehicles.
“Our Deep Teaching technology allows us to quickly deliver best-in-class AI software to OEMs and Tier 1s in a hardware-agnostic fashion, accelerating their time to market and enabling their path to software differentiation with high-end ADAS and L4 systems,” said Vlad Voroninski.
The startup’s technology is based on an AI method known as unsupervised learning, which eliminates the need to annotate training data with explanatory labels.
As a result, automakers can train autonomous driving algorithms on a greater volume of road data than would otherwise be feasible.
“Vlad was an integral part of Sift Security’s early success and has led Helm.ai’s growth and development effectively by delivering breakthrough AI software that the automotive sector is rapidly embracing,” said Freeman Group President Brandon Freeman.
The Series C fundraising round for Helm.ai comes as the autonomous car industry is going through a paradigm shift.
