Prophesee, the world’s leading developer of neuromorphic vision solutions, has entered into a strategic partnership and investment by leading tech venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures. Further support comes from new corporate investor Xiaomi, one of the top three mobile device suppliers in the world, and Inno-Chip, an investment firm that has obtained investment and support from Will Semiconductor, owner of OmniVision.
The company says the support will be used to accelerate the development and commercialization of Prophesee’s hardware and software products; evolve its product roadmap plans to address new and emerging market opportunities, and expand its operational infrastructure required to further scale the company.
“This round of funding takes us another step closer to establishing Prophesee as a clear leader in applying neuromorphic methods to machine vision and AI. The commitment from these new partners is a strategic part of our evolution and growth plan that will give us expanded global access to customers, particularly in China, for our revolutionary event-based vision sensing and processing approach”, noted Luca Verre, CEO and founder of Prophesee.
“As we continue to develop strategies to align with targeted market segments like mobile, automotive, AR and industrial automation, involvement from established leaders such as Sinovation, Xiaomi and Inno-Chip will complement our current expertise and business networks, and position us strongly in the relevant ecosystems”.
Prophesee will also leverage the partnerships to further strengthen its commercial presence and resources in China to address growing customer demand, as well as develop broader relationships across key ecosystems in semiconductors, industrial, robotics, IoT and mobile devices.
Prophesee says the involvement by Sinovation and its founder Dr Kai-Fu Lee represents a “significant endorsement” from a notable global expert in AI technology and venture capital. Sinovation has helped raise successful AI unicorns in its portfolio including Momenta, WeRide and AInnovation amongst others. It currently manages a portfolio worth more than $2.5 billion.
“Sinovation Ventures is committed to finding and backing disruptive pioneers that have the potential to truly shift paradigms in how AI-enabled technology can improve our lives. Prophesee’s technology has great potential in many sectors, such as computational photography, autonomous driving, industrial automation, IoT, Healthcare, AR and VR etc.
“Computer vision applications are flourishing globally and can benefit from Prophesee’s latest technological breakthrough. I believe Prophesee’s advanced technology in AI and machine vision will open up more possibilities globally to enable new levels of automation, safety and efficiency for many industries”, said Dr Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO of Sinovation.
You can find more information about Sinovation and its investment in Prophesee on their respective websites.
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