Israeli radar maker Arbe Robotics has raised $9 million to hep it develop high-resolution radar technology for autonomous cars, making them more accurate at sensing and avoiding objects on the road.
The company explained it has formed a number of partnerships with US-based companies and would be helping to test its tech on the roads shortly. However, it hasn’t revealed who those partners are (for example, whether they’re car manufacturers, or companies testing out autonomous car services, such as Lyft or Uber).
The company’s advanced radar technology has been designed to work in all conditions, not just when the weather is perfect. For example, it can “read” through noise to identify not only that there’s an obstacle, but also, what that obstacle might be, meaning the car can respond accordingly.
It comprises an ultra high resolution radar and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology, putting the data read by these elements together with algorithms to work out what the object is and to remove false alarms. It can apparently identify objects with a “one-degree resolution between them,” essentially meaning if there are two objects next to each other, it can work out what each is, very accurately.
Although Arbe Robotics said there was the opportunity to raise more cash, it decided to limit the amount, only borrowing what it needed to get to the next stage of development.
“There is a push right now to take as much money as you can, but we try to take a little as we need to make it to the next station,” CEO and founder Kobi Marenko told TechCrunch. “With this $9 million, we are able to finish the product, to do more tests, to build a support center in the U.S. and to get to the next station.”
So far, Arbe Robotics has raised $12 million from a range of investment firms including O.G. Tech Ventures and OurCrowd, Canaan Partners, iAngels, and Taya Ventures.
