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Aurora Labs Attracts Auto Manufacturers, Electronics Multinationals and Venture Capitalists in its $23 Million Series B Funding Round
Company Reinvents Remote Software Management, Remote Diagnostics and Over-the-Air Updates for the Automotive and IoT Industries
September 22, 2020 – Tel Aviv – Aurora Labs, founded in 2016 by Zohar Fox (CEO) and Ori Lederman (COO), announced today that it has secured $23 million in Series B funding from top automotive manufacturers, electronics and technology corporations and venture capitalists. The round was jointly led by LG Technology Ventures, the investment arm of the LG Group, and Marius Nacht, co-founder of Check Point Software Technologies. Porsche SE, majority owner of the VW group which includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and SEAT among its brands, Toyota Tsusho, a member of Toyota Group, UL Ventures, the investment arm of UL, the global safety certification company and existing investors participated in the latest round. The Series B funding was substantially oversubscribed.
The $23 million is in addition to the $11.1 million in funding raised previously from investors including Fraser McCombs Capital and MizMaa Ventures. This announcement is a follow-up to a recent Porsche SE announcement that noted their investment of $2.5 million in Aurora Labs and that Aurora Labs‘ technology is entering serial implementation within the next two years.
Aurora Labs has reinvented how automotive companies, Tier-1s, silicon vendors and enterprises conduct remote software management, remote diagnostics and over-the-air software updates. The company’s solutions, which have been granted dozens of patents, are being used by global automotive manufacturers covering a third of global car production, and device manufacturers to continuously collect actionable data and obtain a deep understanding of line-of-code software behavior. This level of understanding will guarantee devices are always-on with the ability to predict and fix software problems.
In addition to keeping software safe and secure from faults and cybersecurity attacks, Aurora Labs‘ solutions allow manufacturers to continuously add new features and functions extending the life of the device and enhancing user experiences. All of this is accomplished with AI and machine learning technologies that will save manufacturers billions of dollars on their bill of materials and data communications costs and enable recurring revenue streams.
New global regulations (UNECE WP.29) require traceable and secure software updates for the hundreds of millions of linesof automotive software code already in passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses today and expected to triple by 2030. The adoption of the regulations will require auto manufacturers to have a deep understanding of software behavior in order to obtain the data and evidence required for certification.
„This cross-industry commitment from investors is evidence of the need to continuously improve the quality of software, keep it safe, secure and updated in all devices, with particular emphasis on vehicles as the car becomes electrified and connected and the amount of vehicle software grows exponentially,“ said Zohar Fox, Aurora Labs‘ Co-founder and CEO. „As auto manufacturers plan for the new regulations in the UNECE WP.29 document and all manufacturers prioritize software in their product development, Aurora Labs becomes a strategic partner helping manufacturers differentiate and update their vehicles and devices and create recurring revenue streams, going beyond what Tesla has already demonstrated.“
Investor quotes:
According to Anshul Agarwal, Managing Director of LG Technology Ventures, „We led this round of investment because LG Technology Ventures realize the huge potential of companies focusing on software quality, safety and security. The Aurora Labs‘ team has proven that its innovative and cost-effective approach to remote software management has a unique proposition enabling self-healing devices. Manufacturers of all types of devices need a proven solution that ensures devices are running 24×7, can be remotely monitored and updated in a predictive manner and continuously offer new user experiences.“
„As the world becomes more connected and edge computing more complex, we need advanced, predictive security solutions to keep us all safe. Aurora Labs‘ Self-Healing Software with its unique and proven OTA capabilities, backed with very solid IP, has great potential for the advanced automotive industry and for IoT applications,“ said Rear Admiral (Ret.) Ophir Shoham who co-led the round on behalf of Marius Nacht, co-founder of Check Point Software Technologies.
„In the future software will be the major differentiating factor in cars and efficient software updates will play an increasingly important role. Through our investment in Aurora Labs, we extend our venture portfolio by an investment in a market with strong growth potential,“ said Lutz Meschke, member of the board of management of Porsche SE. „Porsche SE expects such services to become increasingly relevant for automotive manufacturers such as the Volkswagen Group.“
„The automotive industry is going through a great transition, which comes with great opportunity. We find great opportunities in Aurora Labs. With the recent adoption of the UNECE WP.29 regulation for over-the-air updates, which goes into effect in Japan in 2021, Toyota Tsusho will work with Aurora Labs to reduce the costs of updates to the entire vehicle and to validate changes in the lines-of-code for our vehicles to remain compliant as over-the-air updates are delivered to cars,“ said Mr. Mitsuhiro Tsubakimoto, CEO for Chemicals & Electronics Division from Toyota Tsusho.
„Transparency and robust remote software management are on top of the minds of automotive and IoT companies as their software platforms become more complex, more connected and more agile. To help ensure safety in dynamic systems, vehicle type approval and certification processes will need to be streamlined and consistent across the industry. Aurora Labs‘ unique ability to create, manage and monitor a digital record of all certified updates and functionalities will be a critical building block ensuring digital compliance to the industry standards and the safety of drivers and passengers. Safety and sustainability have been at the core of UL since 1894 and we understand that protecting people is what drives trust and, ultimately, the success of new products and services. In this sentiment, UL and Aurora Labs have a shared vision,“ said Chris Park, investment director of UL Ventures.
About Aurora Labs
Aurora Labs has reinvented remote software management, remote 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 the user experience and lowers the cost of software quality, safety and security.
Aurora Labs‘ Self-Healing Software solutions continuously collect actionable data, enabling pre-error detection of line-of-code faults, software error fixes on-the-go, reliable and cost-effective OTA updates without any downtime for the user and software change validation to streamline regulation and certification.
Aurora Labs, founded in 2016, has raised $34m and has been granted dozens of patents. Aurora Labs has customers around the world and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in Germany, North Macedonia and the US.
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