Autonomous vehicle software company Applied Intuition has raised $250 million in a round that values the startup at $6 billion, as it tries to bring more artificial intelligence to the automotive, defense, construction and agriculture sectors.
The surprising financing round is the latest example of Investor fervor for AI. Applied Intuition seems to have found a sweet spot for venture capitalists who are on the hunt for startups with AI products that cross over into big industries with big budgets (defense is a hot area) with seemingly endless opportunities.
The Series E round was led by Lux Capital’s Bilal Zuberi, investor Elad Gil and Porsche Investments Management, the sports car maker’s independent venture arm. Others joining the round included Andreessen Horowitz, Mary Meeker’s Bond growth fund and even Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg. Lux Capital, Elad Gil and Andreessen Horowitz previously led funding rounds for Applied Intuition.
The fresh capital, all equity capital, will go toward funding “the most ambitious projects we have, without flooding the company or breaking our culture,” co-founder and CEO Qasar Younis tells TechCrunch in an interview.
Founded in 2017, Applied Intuition creates software that automakers and others use to develop autonomous vehicle solutions. Part of that work involves creating simulations that allow customers to test and retest their vehicle perception and behavior systems, or help them manage the vast amount of data involved in developing autonomous vehicles.
“When they think, ‘I have this software or AI problem,’ we usually want them to think about us,” Younis says. “Like we want to be that first call.”
That approach appears to be succeeding: The company claims to work with “18 of the top 20 automakers,” including General Motors (where Younis used to work before working at Google and Y Combinator), Toyota and Volkswagen, as well as startups. of autonomous vehicles. such as Gatik, Motional and Kodiak. The company also has a contract with the Army and Defense Innovation Unit.
Peter Ludwig, co-founder and chief technology officer, tells TechCrunch that he believes it’s “dangerous for an automaker not to partner with us in some way because of the enormous complexity and impact of some of the technology we’re in.” working”.
The new funding round comes as autonomous vehicle development faces new scrutiny, with GM-owned Cruise mired in multiple research surrounding a pedestrian accident late last year, Waymo first software recall (and a recent minor accident with a cyclist), as well as layoffs and another changes in scope of some of the most ambitious projects in the sector.
However, the appetite for artificial intelligence could not be more growing. Younis, in a statement, said that incorporating more artificial intelligence technology into its products will “exponentially accelerate the production of next-generation vehicles.”
That could mean a number of things, Younis tells TechCrunch, such as using AI to help generate more dynamic simulated environments for companies to test their autonomous vehicles. “Simulators are extremely complex,” he says. “We have teams and teams of doctors who are sweating about this stuff all day long.” Applied Intuition will work with some of the hottest technologies, like big language models, Younis says, but also “more speculative things that are closer to the research domain.”
“If you had a world-class AI team dealing with all the automotive problems, there would be a lot of low-hanging fruit,” Younis says.