May 16, 2018
Asian investors have backed US-based startups with Baidu joining in advanced sensor developer Vesper’s Series B funding and car-maker Hyundai Motor’s corporate venture arm Hyundai CRADLE investing in Metawave Coporation.
Baidu joins Vesper’s $23m Series B
Boston-based advanced piezoelectric sensors developer Vesper has raised a $23 million Series B funding, led by American Family Ventures and joined by Accomplice, Amazon Alexa Fund, Baidu, Bose Ventures, Hyperplan, Sands Capital, Shure, Synaptics, ZZ Capital and other undisclosed investors, according to a company statement.
The latest funding brings its aggregating funding to $40 million, enabling the startup to scale the mass production of its microphones and support expanded research and development, hiring, international sales offices and customer support.
Hyundai CRADLE invests in Metawave Corporation
Hyundai CRADLE, the corporate venture arm of Hyundai Motor, has invested an undisclosed sum in Metawave Corporation, according to a press release.
The round was also joined by returning investors Motus Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Autotech Ventures, Bold Capital, SAIC Capital, Western Technology Investment and Airai Capital. The total funding raised by Metawave to date stands at $17 million.
The investment will be used to build intelligent radars for autonomous vehicles. Hyundai is closely evaluating the startup’s radar technology for future autonomous platforms.
“Next-generation radar technology can use advanced algorithms for object detection and classification. A new radar system that can increase resolution and accuracy with an AI engine will be a disruptive technology,” said Hyundai CRADLE vice president John Suh.
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