Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital arm InMotion Ventures announces its investment in Apex.AI.
With offices in Palo Alto, California, and Munich, Germany, the software startup is preparing to launch its flagship product – Apex.OS – to the automotive sector in early 2020. InMotion joins Volvo Group Venture Capital and HELLA Ventures as one of Apex.AI’s most recent strategic investors. Existing investors include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Toyota AI Ventures and Airbus Ventures.
Apex.AI was founded in June 2017 to build a safe and certified version of ROS (Robot Operating System), which is currently the de-facto standard in robotics and autonomous systems research. Although Apex.OS will initially launch to the automotive sector, the product is application-agnostic and can be used in any safety-critical autonomous system, from off-highway use cases in construction, agriculture, and mining to drones and industrial robotics.
Jan Becker, CEO and co-founder, Apex.AI, said: “It’s a testament to our work to have InMotion Ventures invest in our company. We founded Apex.AI on the premise of developing technology that can launch into products within three years to make mobility safer and more reliable. InMotion’s strategic investment will accelerate the development of Apex.OS, enabling Apex.AI’s customers to meet aggressive timelines in taking R&D projects into certified products.”
Sebastian Peck, Managing Director, InMotion Ventures, said: “InMotion Ventures is excited to back Apex.AI. Co-founders Jan and Dejan have assembled a highly experienced team to deliver safe and certified software for autonomous mobility, which closely aligns with Jaguar Land Rover’s ‘Destination Zero’ vision for the future of the industry. We have the ambition to make our societies safer and our environment cleaner. With investments in companies like Apex.AI, our journey toward Destination Zero has already begun.”
