Aurora Labs aims to bring AI to the software-defined vehicle.
Aurora Labs has secured US$63 million through a Series C financing round led by Moore Strategic Ventures. Also participating in the round was existing investor Porsche Automobil Holding SE, majority owner of VW Group and Colmobil Corp, Israel’s leading automotive importer and distributor.
Colmobil Corp is led by the Harlap family who were early investors in Mobileye, SolarEdge and Via, amongst others. This round brings the total investment in Aurora Labs to approximately $100 million. Aurora Labs holds 90 patents and has 15 customer projects globally.
Aurora Labs claims its AI-based ‘Vehicle Software Intelligence’ has reinvented how automotive companies, Tier-1 suppliers, silicon vendors and enterprises develop, certify and diagnose software, and conduct over-the-air (OTA) updates.
The company says its solutions are being used by global automotive and device manufacturers to continuously collect actionable data and obtain a ‘deep understanding of line-of-code software behaviour’. This level of understanding helps the software development teams streamline the processes of development, testing, integration, WP.29 compliance, continuous certification, and on-the-road, zero-downtime, over-the-air updating. The solution also keeps software safe and secure from faults and cybersecurity attacks, while allowing manufacturers to continuously add new features and functions extending the life of the device and enhancing user experiences.
Analsyst say insight into automotive software behaviour is becoming increasingly important as more lines of code from a growing list of entities – Tier 1s, open-source, and automakers themselves – bring the software-defined vehicle closer to reality.
Aurora Labs maintains that its AI-based Vehicle Software Intelligence offers significant economic benefits to the auto industry with a clear cost-effective value proposition, saving up to 98% of hardware and data transmission costs for software updates, and up to 30% in software engineering hours saving manufacturers billions of dollars on their bill of materials and data communications costs and enabling recurring revenue streams.
“Safe, quick, and reliable over-the-air update capability is fast becoming a minimum requirement to effectively compete in the increasingly software-focused auto landscape,” says James McIntyre, Senior Managing Director and COO of MSV. “Aurora Labs provides OEMs with the tools they need to compete at the highest level, offering their customers a far better user experience than they are capable of delivering today.”
“We are doubling down on our investment in Aurora Labs because of the importance of its AI-based technology to the automotive sector. The software provides developers and automotive OEMs with actionable insights from the development phase throughout the lifecycle of the car. We are convinced that the use of this technology provides significant benefits to OEMs and customers alike and will be a key enabler for software-defined and connected vehicles,” said Lutz Meschke, board member responsible for investment management at Porsche SE.
“The continued commitment from Porsche SE and the investment from Moore Strategic Ventures and Colmobil Corp, all of which have proven success records of investing in the automotive sector, is evidence of the commercial traction we have in Europe and Asia. The amount of software being developed for, and deployed in, the vehicle is astronomical. For the industry to move forward and realize software-defined vehicles – sophisticated AI solutions are needed to enable Continuous Everything – Continuous Integration, Deployment (CI/CD), Testing, Certification and Updates. Aurora Labs’ solutions will save automotive companies time and money and will ultimately save lives as vehicles become electric and more autonomous,” said Zohar Fox, CEO, Aurora Labs.