AI chip company Kneron receives more than $25 million in a new round of financing to accelerate the implementation of autonomous driving technology

The investment community (ID: pedaly2012) reported on December 22 that Kneron announced that it has recently received a new round of financing of over US$25 million. The largest investment in this round came from OEM/ODM giant Lite-On Technology, and General Technology, Lingju, Sand Hill Angels and Gainels also participated in the investment.

It is reported that Lite-On Technology’s investment funds will be used as part of the strategic cooperation to promote the development of smart city technologies and accelerate the implementation of L4 and L5 autonomous driving technologies. For example, through the artificial intelligence box on the roadside, and the car equipped with the edge AI chip driven by Nene, so as to help and guide the autonomous driving. Kneron’s reconfigurable technology is suitable for a variety of applications and can provide a unique comprehensive solution for autonomous driving technology.

Dr. Juncheng Liu, founder and CEO of Kneron, said: “The autonomous driving road to L4 and L5 is not just a car, but the entire technology ecosystem and related infrastructure to support transportation. We are very happy to work with our new strategic partners. Develop infrastructure, promote the development of smart city technology, and support the construction of future urban transportation systems. Kneron’s technology can not only support the related needs in autonomous vehicles, but also meet the needs for surrounding infrastructure construction.”

In November, Kneron released a new generation of edge artificial intelligence chip-KL530 at the Web Summit. KL530 has technical innovations, such as supporting Vision Transformer AI model and INT4, and adopting the most advanced image signal processing. These technologies are critical to achieving L4 and L5 performance. KL530 can be applied to the deployment of related equipment in roadside units and smart cities, providing efficient overall solutions for vehicle collaboration, making autonomous driving safer and smarter, and promoting faster implementation of autonomous driving.

Qiu Senbin, General Manager of Lite-On Technology, said: “We are very happy to cooperate with Kneron. The wide application of autonomous driving requires advanced technology. Kneron’s reconfigurable technology and industry-leading performance and power consumption make it our development of a smart city. , Promote the perfect strategic partner of intelligent manufacturing and the Internet of Things”.

This financing brings Kneron’s total financing to more than 120 million U.S. dollars. It has previously received the first round of financing from companies such as Horizons Ventures, Qualcomm, Alibaba, and Sequoia. Earlier this year, Foxconn launched the MIH electric vehicle platform, and Tesla supplier Delta Electronics (Delta Electronics), etc., all made strategic investments in Kneron.