SEATTLE, May 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Overland AI, a Seattle-based pioneer in off-road ground vehicle autonomy for the defense sector, today announced it has secured $10 million in seed funding, led by Point72 Ventures with participation from Shasta Ventures, Ascend VC, Pioneer Square Labs, Voyager Capital, and Cubit Capital.
In addition to fueling Overland AI’s plans to increase its workforce — with a focus on hiring top engineering talent — the financing will support expanded development and testing of the company’s OverDrive software, a vehicle-agnostic solution that enables autonomous navigation of off-road terrain in any environmental conditions at speeds up to 45 mph.
The technology is poised to meet a growing demand for autonomous off-road capabilities — particularly in the defense sector, where emerging innovations are accelerating the pace of advanced robotics adoption to enhance safety in the field. The U.S. Army and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently awarded a $18.6 million ceiling prototype Other Transaction (OT) agreement to Overland AI to adapt its OverDrive technology to drive autonomous vehicles capable of traversing complex terrain in contested areas. In addition, Overland AI was recently selected as a performer on Phase II of the DARPA RACER program to continue advanced capability development and demonstration of OverDrive in operationally-relevant terrain. The demonstrations feature OverDrive integrated into heavy tracked platforms similar in size to forthcoming robotic and optionally manned combat/fighting vehicles, and the lightweight wheeled vehicles already in use.
“We are committed to the advancement of ground vehicle autonomy to support national security and minimize risk to our warfighters,” said Byron Boots, co-founder and CEO of Overland AI. “With this funding, we can accelerate development and create high-performance ground autonomy software designed for uncrewed vehicles in any contested terrain.”
The Overland AI team has a long history of working on off-road autonomy problems in a research capacity before forming the company. In addition to his role as CEO of Overland AI, Boots is the Amazon Endowed Professor of Machine Learning at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at University of Washington (UW). Boots’ Robot Learning Lab at UW has pioneered new machine learning approaches to robotics and control, and has collaborated with the U.S. Army Research Lab and DARPA on several research programs over the past 10 years.
To learn more about Overland AI and see open roles, visit www.overland.ai.
About Overland AI
Overland AI is the world leader in autonomous ground mobility for complex and contested off-road environments. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Overland AI boasts an expert team with decades of experience in machine learning, robotics, and autonomous systems. Overland AI’s OverDrive software represents a giant leap forward for ground autonomy and is the result of the team’s bold approach to systems development – iterating fast, learning by pushing solutions to their limits in the field, and moving quickly to incorporate the latest advancements into the software — all with a goal of radically transforming autonomous land operations to be more safe, reliable, and resilient.
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