DriveU.auto raises $4M to deliver superior teleoperation connectivity for autonomous vehicles
DriveU.auto, the developer of a unique connectivity platform for autonomous vehicle teleoperation, announced that it has raised $4M towards accelerating the deployment of autonomous vehicles through superior connectivity.
The round was led by Zohar Zisapel, Two Lanterns Venture Partners, Yigal Jacoby, Kaedan Capital, and other private investors, all of whom joined existing shareholder Francisco Partners. Alon Podhurst joined the DriveU.auto team as CEO.
DriveU.auto was originally established as part of LiveU, the world leader in field HD video transmission. LiveU pioneered the market for portable cellular solutions for reliable and high-quality video streaming and live broadcasting. DriveU.auto has a decade of experience with cellular bonding and video transmission, and globally patented technology. It uses these assets to meet a critical need in the autonomous vehicles industry – high quality, low latency reliable connectivity for teleoperations.
The investment comes after DriveU.auto demonstrated strong market traction through several customer engagements, including AV developers and Tier-1 suppliers in the US, Europe, Japan, and Israel, where the platform was used on public roads.
“DriveU.auto’s patented technology, coupled with the team’s deep expertise, is uniquely positioned to solve a critical challenge in the autonomous vehicle space, as has been validated in live deployments,” said Zohar Zisapel, co-founder of the RAD group, and an experienced investor in Israel’s leading auto tech companies, who led the first external investment round in DriveU.auto.
Remote human oversight and the ability to intervene are mandatory in many regions where autonomous vehicles are being deployed. Teleoperations require the transfer of vast amounts of information such as 4k video, multiple audio streams, data, and control in real-time. Such high-performance connectivity is simply not possible with a single modem, not even over the 5G networks.
DriveU.auto’s solution serves as a mission-critical teleoperation-enabling connectivity platform for multiple use cases of autonomous technology, including robotaxis, autonomous trucks, delivery drones, and more. DriveU.auto’s connectivity platform overcomes unpredictable network behavior, including choppy uplink throughput, delay, jitter, and packet loss. It works over multiple networks in parallel using patented cellular bonding technology, dynamic 4k video encoding and advanced algorithms that enable adaptation to changing networks’ conditions in real-time.
“We are thankful for the vote of confidence by our investors and shareholders in these times of economic uncertainty,” said Alon Podhurst, DriveU.auto CEO. “The demand for reliable teleoperations has been set in regulation in many regions testing and launching autonomous vehicles on public roads. DriveU.auto has seen great market traction within different verticals of the AV space, with leading developers and Tier 1 suppliers already using our solution on public roads. We are looking forward to further developing the DriveU.auto business through growing our customer base and our team in the coming months.“
