Aurora Labs raises $63 Million to bring AI to the Software-Defined Vehicle

Aurora Labs, founded in 2016 by Zohar Fox (CEO) and Ori Lederman (COO), announced today that it has secured $63 million through a Series C financing round led by Moore Strategic Ventures (“MSV”). Also participating in the round was existing investor Porsche Automobil Holding SE (“Porsche SE”), majority owner of VW G roup and Colmobil Corp, Israel’s leading automotive importer and distributor. Colmobil Corp is led by the Harlap family who were early investors in Mobileye, SolarEdge and Via, amongst others. This round brings the total investment in Aurora Labs to approximately $100 million. Aurora Labs holds 90 patents and has 15 customer projects globally. 

Aurora Labs’ AI-based Vehicle Software Intelligence has reinvented how automotive companies, Tier-1 suppliers, silicon vendors and enterprises develop, certify and diagnose software, and conduct over-the-air updates. The company’s solutions are being used by global automotive and device manufacturers to continuously collect actionable data and obtain a deep understanding of line-of-code software behavior. This level of understanding helps the software development teams streamline the processes of development, testing, integration, WP.29 compliance, continuous certification, and on-the-road, zero-downtime, over-the-air (OTA) updating. The solution also keeps software safe and secure from faults and cybersecurity attacks, while allowing manufacturers to continuously add new features and functions extending the life of the device and enhancing user experiences. 

Insight into automotive software behavior is crucial as more lines of code from a growing list of entities – Tier 1s, open-source, and automakers themselves – make the software-defined vehicle a reality. Aurora Labs’ AI-based Vehicle Software Intelligence offers significant economic benefits to the auto industry with a clear cost-effective value proposition, saving up to 98% of hardware and data transmission costs for software updates, and up to 30% in software engineering hours saving manufacturers billions of dollars on their bill of materials and data communications costs and enabling recurring revenue streams.   

“Safe, quick, and reliable over-the-air update capability is fast becoming a minimum requirement to effectively compete in the increasingly software-focused auto landscape,” says James McIntyre, Senior Managing Director and COO of MSV. “Aurora Labs provides OEMs with the tools they need to compete at the highest level, offering their customers a far better user experience than they are capable of delivering today.” 

“We are doubling down on our investment in Aurora Labs because of the importance of its AI-based technology to the automotive sector. The software provides developers and automotive OEMs with actionable insights from the development phase throughout the lifecycle of the car. We are convinced that the use of this technology provides significant benefits to OEMs and customers alike and will be a key enabler for software-defined and connected vehicles,” said Lutz Meschke, board member responsible for investment management at Porsche SE.

“The continued commitment from Porsche SE and the investment from Moore Strategic Ventures and Colmobil Corp, all of which have proven success records of investing in the automotive sector, is evidence of the commercial traction we have in Europe and Asia. The amount of software being developed for, and deployed in, the vehicle is astronomical. For the industry to move forward and realize software-defined vehicles – sophisticated AI solutions are needed to enable Continuous Everything – Continuous Integration, Deployment (CI/CD), Testing, Certification and Updates. Aurora Labs’ solutions will save automotive companies time and money and will ultimately save lives as vehicles become electric and more autonomous,” said Zohar Fox, CEO, Aurora Labs. 

 

Aurora Labs Appointed Peter Mertens Chairman of the Board

Tel aviv based Aurora Labs, has appointed the auto industry veteran Dr. Ing. Peter Mertens Chairman of the Board. Peter brings more than 35 years of experience steering auto companies, including Daimler and GM. He also served as Head of R&D at Volvo Cars and most recently CTO and Head of R&D and Design at Audi until 2018 when he retired for health reasons. Since the end of 2019 Mertens is back bringing his expertise to the supervisory boards of mobility companies, including Faurecia, proteanTecs andValens.

Founded in 2016 by the CEO Zohar Fox and the COO Ori Lederman, Aurora Labs has developed a remote software management, diagnostics, and over-the-air (OTA) updates for the automotive and IoT industries. Using machine learning algorithms to analyze risks and changes in the software functionality and behavior, Aurora Labs’ Line-Of-Code Behavior technology improves software quality, safety and security. Until now the company has raised $34m from investors such as LG Technology Ventures, Toyota Group, Porsche SE and Marius Nacht (co-founder of Check Point).

The task of managing automotive software becomes more difficult every year. According to Mckinsey, Software is rapidly reprogrammingthe car industry. The four biggest disruptions in recent years—autonomous vehicles, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility – all rely heavily on leading-edge software.

“As the landscape shifts, automakers that lack sufficient software capabilities will face major risks, including start-of-production (SOP) delays and budget overruns. Even more troubling, software issues could lead to massive recalls or leave companies vulnerable to customer-safety risks resulting from hacking attacks.”

Aurora Labs raised $23 Million for Automotive Software

Above: Zohar Fox, Aurora Labs’ Co-founder and CEO. “The name of the game is Zero Downtime”

Toyota Group, VW Group and LG Group are looking for new ways to manage their software programs  in a much cost effective and secured manner compared with current methods. For the car manufacturers among them, this issue is urgent. Today’s semi autonomous in-vehicle’s systems are run by complicated multi-million lines software systems, that need to be frequently updated while fully comply with strict standards and regulations such as UNECE WP.29.

They may found a  solution: A combination of embedded software program and a cloud service developed by Aurora Labs from Tel Aviv, that continuously collect actionable data, enabling pre-error detection of line-of-code faults, software error fixes on-the-go and cost-effective OTA updates without downtime for the user. Aurora Labs announced that it has secured $23 million funding from top strategic investors, including LG Technology Ventures, Porsche SE, Toyota Tsusho, a member of Toyota Group and UL Ventures, the investment arm of the global safety certification company UL.

Line-Of-Code Behavior Technology

This announcement is a follow-up to a recent Porsche SE announcement that Aurora Labs’ technology is entering serial implementation within the next two years. Founded in 2016 by Zohar Fox (CEO) and Ori Lederman (COO), Aurora Labs invented  a new technology called Line-Of-Code Behavior protected by 22 registered patents. It provides remote software management, remote diagnostics and over-the-air software updates to guarantee that devices are always-on and to predict and fix software problems, including cybersecurity attacks.

“As auto manufacturers plan for new regulations and all manufacturers prioritize software in their product development, Aurora Labs becomes a strategic partner,” said Zohar Fox, Aurora Labs’ Co-founder and CEO. But the company plans to gain a foothold in other markets as well. Fox told Techtime that following the raising round, Aurora will enter new markets such as Industry 4.0, Robotics, Smart Metering and Automated Warehouses.

Fox: “Our vision is to enable Self Healing Smart Devices. Any software-based device will be able to detect malfunctions, isolate them, fix them and to perform an automatic recovery process. The systemS will never crash and will always be available. The name of the game is Zero Downtime, and that’s a real game changer.”