In addition to the fund, HARMAN, which was acquired by Samsung earlier this year, has established a new Autonomous/ADAS Strategic Business Unit (SBU). The new HARMAN SBU, which will report to HARMAN’s Connected Car division, will work with the Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center (SSIC) Smart Machines team to develop key technologies for safer, smarter, connected vehicles.  The SSIC Smart Machines team is an advanced automotive engineering group dedicated to enabling next-generation mobility solutions.

“During this period of extraordinary transformation in the automotive industry, we are excited to play a leadership role in supporting and shaping the future of smarter, more connected vehicles,” said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics and Chairman of the Board of HARMAN.  “The Autonomous/ADAS Strategic Business Unit and automotive fund reflect the company’s commitment to the values of open innovation and collaboration. In partnership with OEMs and startups, we will make the driver and passenger experience safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable.”

According to the World Health Organization, road injuries are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide.¹ In the U.S. alone, the most recent data suggests that there are more than 35,000 fatal crashes each year.² Samsung’s goal in the automotive market is to tackle this challenge by bringing to market technologies, from sensors to data-processing solutions, that will help make cars safer while creating a more comfortable and convenient mobility experience.

To address the increasing demand for integrated solutions, particularly those for automated driving, Samsung and HARMAN will focus on engineering, high-performance computing, sensor technologies, algorithms, artificial intelligence, as well as connectivity and cloud solutions that enable Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and automated driving.

“There is already a high demand for ADAS solutions, and that demand is rapidly growing with the advancements in connected cars and autonomous driving,” said Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO of HARMAN. “This strategic business unit demonstrates Samsung’s and HARMAN’s commitment to answer that call – to be the definitive partner for seamless and integrated technologies. It also reflects the incredible power that Samsung and HARMAN, as a collective force, will bring to our OEM customers as we combine Samsung’s scale and resources with HARMAN’s deep automotive experience and networks. Together, we are driving the future of automotive.”

Industry veteran John Absmeier has been appointed Senior Vice President of the new HARMAN SBU, and will also retain his current role as Vice President of Smart Machines for SSIC.  As a leader in both organizations, John Absmeier will ensure seamless collaboration to bring Autonomous and ADAS solutions to the market.

The first strategic investment of the Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund will be in TTTech, a leader in functional safety, deterministic networking, real-time systems, and complex software integration for ADAS and an automated driving platform. Earlier investments by Samsung’s existing investment funds have included stakes in automotive startups, including AImotive and Renovo for automated driving; Quanergy, TetraVue, and Oculii for sensors; Autotalks and Valens for connectivity; and Graphcore for high-performance computing.

To date, Samsung has secured licenses for on-road testing of autonomous driving software and hardware under development in Korea and California. Samsung will not enter the car-manufacturing business, remaining focused on working with automakers and mobility enablers to develop the next generation of automotive innovation.

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things.  With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

¹ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en

² https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812348

“We are thrilled to share that TetraVue has officially closed its largest round of funding to date,” said Paul Banks, Founder and President of TetraVue. “Our passionate team has dedicated their careers to researching and developing the technology that TetraVue is today and we plan to use this financial support to continue to deliver state of the art 3D vision technology to enable smart vision for smarter machines.”

TetraVue intends to make collecting high resolution 3D data and imagery simple and cost effective as autonomous cars become a reality within the next few years. It has been developing partnerships with car manufacturers, auto AI software developers, and other hardware makers to be an intricate part of what can only be described as the “eyes and brain” of self-driving vehicles.

“TetraVue is unparalleled to any other existing technologies in the three-dimensional Flash LIDAR space,” said Luis Llovera, Bosch Ventures Managing Director. “We see its technology as being key to the enhancement and development of the autonomous car industry, which will be the future of transportation as we know it.”

TetraVue’s Ultra High Definition resolution helps robust identification of unexpected and dangerous obstacles at 100s of meters that is not being done on cars today—and needed to reach true autonomy. As on-board computers will make split second decisions to adapt to road conditions and react to the unexpected, car vision and LIDAR systems will have to determine at a safe distance what the nature of the obstacle is accurately and instantly; distance alone scanned a few points at a time is insufficient. “TetraVue’s LIDAR gives cars perfect vision, and allows them to make better decisions” says Connie Sheng, Founding Managing Director at Nautilus Venture Partners. “Imagine the car being able to instantly determine if a black spot is a rock or a plastic bag.” Beyond distance, used as the current benchmark for LIDAR performance, high definition is the critical element to ensure optimal safety and operation on the roads.

For more information on how TetraVue works, its products for Vision for Things (VfT), and its plans for future developments, please visit: http://www.tetravue.com

About TetraVue

Founded in 2008, TetraVue’s Ultra High Resolution products take an entirely new approach to Flash LIDAR technology and is a product of several years of experimental research. TetraVue’s technology results in 2 million or more simultaneous distance measurements of ranges—greater than 200 meters in any weather conditions and utilizes orders of magnitude less power than competitors. This performance is optimal for the autonomous car industry, and TetraVue plans to miniaturize and commercialize its fully functioning prototype. As the visualization needs of businesses and consumers become more sophisticated, increasingly complex machines require a 3D depth vision for maximal efficiency. TetraVue’s 3D camera will also play a large role across industries such as enterprise level mapping and augmented reality.

About RBVC GmbH

Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) is the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services. RBVC invests worldwide in innovative start-up companies at all stages of their development. Its investment activities focus on technology companies working in areas of business of current and future relevance for Bosch, above all, automation and electrification, energy efficiency, enabling technologies, and healthcare systems. RBVC also invests in services and business models that are relevant to the above-mentioned areas of business. Additional information is available at: www.rbvc.com