Re-investing in Applied Intuition to accelerate autonomous vehicle development
Lux Capital was fortunate to be early investors in Qasar and Peter, partnering with them when they first started Applied Intuition. They are the type of entrepreneurs VCs aspire to be invested in. Since then, every time I meet them I am blown away by their clarity of thought and purpose, focus on their customers and execution, and quality of the team they are building.
This is why we were super excited to double down on our original investment when they decided to raise a $40M Series B, which they are announcing today. With this financing, we welcome General Catalyst, KPCB, M12, Sozo Ventures, and La Famiglia to the existing team of A16Z, Lux, and Floodgate.
Applied Intuition has raised this money, and from a hand-selected syndicate, to accelerate the work they are already doing in making autonomy possible in the automotive world. Applied is already the leading simulation and infrastructure tools platform for major AV (autonomous vehicle) AND a large number of major automotive OEMs. It already had customers in many countries around the globe — from Detroit and Silicon Valley to Europe and Asia — now the company will also set up formal presence in countries where automotive products are not only a major part of the economy, but where automakers are also aggressively moving on autonomy — from Level 2 partial automation to Level 5 full automation.
Applied provides a range of software tools for developing complex autonomy tools. Its customers range from large VC funded autonomous car startups in Silicon Valley, to autonomous trucking companies, large OEMs and Tier 1s, mining and delivery companies, and regulators. Building world class simulation software is really hard. It has to be robust and engineered to build confidence in test results, built for multiple use-cases, and to scale with very large data volumes. Hiring a team that can accomplish that is even harder, esp in today’s economy. Qasar and Peter have accomplished that in a short period of time utilizing their tremendous experience in SV and in the automotive space.
Applied’s customers are the biggest validators of the quality of its product, and the value it brings to them. If you know of an autonomous car company, just ask what they think of Applied Intuition :) And if you like what you hear, see if you might be interested in joining their team. Qasar and Peter will meet any time of the day, any where to convince a great candidate. And they are growing.
