Finnish autonomous driving technology start-up Sensible 4 has raised US$7m in its series A funding round to expand in Europe and Asia.
The investment round was led by NordicNinja, a Nordic deep tech fund backed by Japanese tech companies and trading company ITOCHU worth €100m (US111m).
Sensible 4 is developing software to help autonomous vehicles cope with challenging weather conditions including snow, fog and heavy rain.
Harri Santamala, co-founder and CEO of Sensible 4, said, “We are very proud to have such strong investors joining Sensible 4 as shareholders. We are still one of the only companies in this field that can drive autonomously in all weather conditions. With the investment, we will be able to develop the technology to a level that allows us to integrate this to commercial use.”
In 2019, Sensible 4 released the GACHA autonomous shuttle bus in cooperation with Japanese retail company MUJI.
The first phase of the investment round before commercial production is now complete and the total round is expected to double and be completed by the summer.
The funding will be used to develop the software and build more GACHA buses with the aim of entering the Japanese and Chinese markets by the end of the year.
Tomosaku Sohara, managing partner at NordicNinja, said, “The global autonomous driving solutions still struggle to work in particular conditions like heavy snow, fog or typhoons. Sensible 4’s approach based on their long-term research for autonomous driving is totally different from other existing approaches. Their unique technology enables any kind of autonomous vehicle to drive anywhere and anytime.”