France-based vision technology developer Prophesee closed the $19m first tranche of its series B round yesterday, securing capital from investors including carmaker Renault, industrial product manufacturer Robert Bosch and chipmaker Intel.
The tranche was led by an undisclosed strategic investor from the electronics sector and included 360 Capital Partners, Supernova Invest and iBionext Growth Fund, while Intel and Bosch took part through their Intel Capital and Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC) units.
Founded as Chronocam, Prophesee has created an artificial vision system based on biological processes in the human eye and brain that can capture and analyse images through sensors or cameras for automotive, robotics and internet-of-things machines.
The company has now raised a total of about $40m, it said. The company was co-founded and seeded by investment fund iBionext in 2014, and received $950,000 from RBVC and the French state-owned CEA Investissement in 2015.
Renault, Intel Capital and RBVC subsequently joined CEA Investissement, iBionext and venture capital firm 360 Capital Partners for a $15m round for the company in late 2016.
Prophesee chief executive Luca Verre said: “This latest round of financing will help us move rapidly from technology development to market deployment.
“Having the backing of our original investors, plus a world leader in electronics and consumer devices, further strengthens our strategy and will help Prophesee win the many market opportunities we are seeing.”