Autonomous AI For Autonomous Vehicles — Welcome Cartica AI to the Toyota AI Ventures Portfolio
As vehicles become more autonomous, they need sophisticated perception systems that allow them to quickly and accurately “see” the world around them. Enter Cartica AI — the Israel-based startup that has developed a computer-vision perception system for the automotive market combining sensors, processors, and Cartica AI’s proprietary object classification software.
Based on more than a decade of research and backed by over 200 patents, Cartica AI’s “Autonomous AI” technology uses unsupervised self-learning to identify and classify visual sensor data. It promises a number of advantages over existing deep learning approaches like greater contextual understanding, lower computing power requirements, and not needing massive training data sets. It’s the type of disruptive technology we look for at Toyota AI Ventures, and I’m excited to welcome Cartica AI to our portfolio.
Led by co-founder and CEO Igal Raichelgauz, Cartica AI is the automotive spin-off of Cortica building on technology developed at the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel. During his time as the CEO of Cortica, Igal and his team of AI researchers first created Cartica AI’s “Autonomous AI” technology by mimicking mammalian thought patterns and translating them through deep learning methods. Their platform is the culmination of over a decade of studying decision-making processes, resulting in AI tech that can independently function in dynamic environments.
Cartica AI’s first product is Cartex 1.0, an open developer kit for integrating Cartica’s software into advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). The kit harnesses Cartica’s unsupervised “Autonomous AI” algorithms to provide enhanced road and traffic perception. Cartex supports a range of applications and improves the way autonomous vehicles handle automatic braking, cruise control, and traffic navigation.
We join investors Continental, BMW iVentures, and OurCrowd in Cartica AI’s Series B funding round, and are grateful for the opportunity to support a startup working to change the way vehicles perceive the world. If you’d like to find out more about how Cartica AI is helping to create the next generation of autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions, visit the company’s website.
