AAA LeapMind goes deep to raise $10m

LeapMind goes deep to raise $10m

Japan-based deep learning system developer LeapMind has secured more than $10m in a series B round led by Intel Capital, semiconductor producer Intel’s corporate venturing unit.

Trading group Itochu, internet company GMO and telecommunications firm NTT also took part in the round through respective subsidiaries NTT Data, Itochu Technology Ventures and GMO Venture Partners.

The round was filled out by Innovative Venture, a fund jointly managed by financial services firm NEC Capital Solution and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s SMBC Venture Capital unit, along with investment firm Visionnaire Ventures and VC firm Archetype Ventures.

Founded in 2012, LeapMind has developed a deep learning platform called Juiz that can function in small computing environments with limited power, facilitating its use in robotics and consumer electronics products.

The funds will be used for recruitment, research and development, and to expand the company’s business development and sales operations. The round formed part of the $60m of artificial intelligence investments unveiled by Intel Capital last week.

LeapMind secured $3.3m in an August 2016 series A round featuring Itochu Technology Ventures, Visionnaire Ventures and Archetype Ventures. It graduated from telecoms operator KDDI’s incubator in 2015 and raised an undisclosed sum from Archetype Ventures later the same year.

Soichi Matsuda, LeapMind’s CEO, said: “LeapMind brings cutting edge deep learning technology to industry scale use with software and hardware focused R&D.

“With this investment, we aim to foster the synergy between our platform, Juiz, and our partners’ business needs.”

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