Automated driving technology company AImotive raises $20m

Hungary-based automated driving technology company AImotive has raised $20m through a new investment round.

The round was led by Lead Ventures and was also attended by AImotive’s existing investors: Robert Bosch Venture Capital, B Capital Group, Prime Ventures, Inventure, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and Draper Associates.

The company has now secured a total funding of $75m.

AImotive plans to use the latest proceeds to support its international expansion. The plan includes opening new offices in Munich, Germany, and in Detroit, the US, to improve its support services to its automotive partners in the regions.

The company also intends to accelerate the development of self-driving technologies to enable automated driving on highways, as well as other capabilities, to reduce road accidents.

In addition, the Hungarian firm is working on an automated valet parking solution.

AImotive founder and CEO László Kishonti said: “Securing funding during the recession caused by the current pandemic underlines the high demand for, and trust in, AImotive’s technologies that tackle the challenges of automated driving through a system approach.

“By not only concentrating on one piece of the automated driving puzzle, we have developed working solutions that solve real-world problems and can be deployed quickly.”

AImotive forayed into autonomous driving technology in 2015. With a team of more than 220 members, the company now has offices in Mountain View, California, and in Yokohama, Japan.

AImotive chairman of the board Timo Tirkkonen said: “Over the last five years, AImotive has grown into a European powerhouse of automated driving development, and their growth will continue over the coming years, as automotive stakeholders increasingly recognise the enormous change that is in front of them.”