US-based artificial intelligence (AI) platform developer Xnor.ai has closed a $12m series A round featuring NGP Capital, the venture capital firm funded by communications manufacturer Nokia.
Madrona Venture Group led the round, which also featured fellow VC firms Autotech Ventures and Catapult Ventures.
Xnor is developing an AI development engine called the Xnor Developer Platform, which enables AI tools to run directly from local devices such as smartphones or internet-of-things devices, rather than from cloud computing servers.
The company claims the technology will lead to the development of leaner, faster and more energy efficient AI-based applications for use in products such as drones, smart devices and video games.
The funding will help Xnor accelerate development of Xnor Developer Platform in preparation for a projected release in autumn 2018. Alexei Andreev, managing director of Autotech Ventures, will take a board observer position at Xnor in conjunction with the round.
Xnor’s technology originated from research hub Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), and the company was launched out of AI2’s incubator program in 2017. It secured $2.6m in a February 2017 seed round backed by both AI2 and Madrona.