ZF, Continental invested in software startups Apex.AI refinance $56.5 million

According to foreign media reports, self-driving application software developer Apex.AI raised $56.5 million in Series B financing. As of now, Apex. AI has raised a total of $74 million since its inception in 2017. The round was led by Oriente, with input from ZF, Continental, AGCO, Canaan, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Airbus Ventures and InMotion Ventures. Among them, ZF acquired a 5% stake in the company.

(Image source: Apex.AI)

Back in 2019, Jaguar Land Rover's venture capital arm InMotion, Volvo Ventures, HELLA Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Toyota AI Ventures and Airbus Ventures also invested in the company.

Apex.AI plans to use the funds to expand into new markets, such as agriculture, mining, industrial automation and the Internet of Things. Currently, Apex.AI has four offices worldwide, in Palo Alto, California, berlin, Munich and Stuttgart, with offices in Palo Alto and Stuttgart opening last year. Apex.AI plans to expand recruitment in these four locations and more than double the number of employees.

Apex.AI Apex.OS is an end-to-end operating system designed to simplify and accelerate software development for autonomous vehicles, but can also be applied to things like semi-trailers and construction equipment.

Jan Becker, CEO and co-founder of Apex.AI, said: "Software is essential for mobility applications such as autonomous driving, connected cars, electric vehicles and shared mobility, but due to the lack of a unified platform, it has not been possible to develop the whole vehicle integrated. To address these issues, we launched Apex.OS, the first mobility software platform that can be integrated across all in-vehicle domains and extended to the cloud. In view of the high market demand, we will use the funds raised from this round of financing to expand our business and serve more customers. ”

Apex.AI will also use the funds to expand its business to Asia. In addition, former Panasonic executive Tavis Szeto will join the Apex.AI and serve as its vice president for Asia Pacific.

Apex.AI also announced the addition of two new board members, Ahmed Sallam, a partner at Oriention, and Paul Balciunas, chief financial officer at Apex.AI.

Jan Becker, CEO and co-founder of Apex.AI, said: "We are delighted that ZF, one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, will also be offering Apex.OS-based software solutions. We hope that this core, non-differentiated software will become the new standard in the automotive industry. ”