Swift Navigation, a US-based global positioning system (GPS) technology provider backed by mobile semiconductor technology provider Qualcomm, has secured $34m in a series B round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA).
NEA was joined in the round, which increased Swift’s total funding to $47.6m according to the company, by fellow venture capital firms Eclipse and First Round Capital.
Founded in 2012, Swift is developing low-cost GPS and global navigation satellite technology it claims is 100 times more accurate than that of a mobile phone.
The technology will be used in autonomous vehicles, drones, precision agriculture, robotics, surveying and space products. Swift will invest the series B money in growing its headcount and strengthening its core engineering and R&D activities.
Eclipse previously led Swift’s $11m series A round in late 2015, investing alongside Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit Qualcomm Ventures, NEA, First Round, Promus Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Fall Line Capital and incubator Lemnos Labs.
Qualcomm Ventures had also contributed to the company’s $2.6m seed round in 2014, which was led by First Round and backed by Felicis Ventures, Fall Line Capital, Lemnos Labs, VegasTechFund and angel investor Kal Vepuri.
Timothy Harris, Swift Navigation’s CEO, said: “We are encouraged by the tremendous market opportunity for precision navigation that is required by autonomous vehicles, and are grateful to our investors who share our vision and whose support validates our efforts in tackling hard problems in the changing landscape of GPS.”