BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venti Technologies, the leader in safe-speed autonomous logistics systems, today announced that it has secured approximately $8 million in a seed round funding. The financing round was led by LDV Partners and Alpha JWC Ventures, leaders in supporting pioneering technical teams to build winning companies in their spaces. The investment will further Venti’s leadership in producing AI-enabled autonomous logistics transport, including fulfilling new and existing customer agreements with PSA Corporation, a global ports operator with 60 ports under management; automotive manufacturers including SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM; the world’s largest automotive logistics provider, SAIC Anji Logistics Tech, and Seedland, a top Asian real estate developer and operator.
Venti is a safe-speed autonomous mobility company leading the future of transportation for moving goods and people; the company provides autonomous systems: tug-trailers for goods movement in manufacturing yards, warehouses, and logistics hubs, self-driving prime movers for the transport of shipping containers, and small luxury community transports. Venti’s deep-learning-powered autonomy operating system (OS) powers vehicles from the company’s leading manufacturer partners and brings a rapid ability to combine its OS with nearly any combination of sensors and chasses.
“We are delighted with the partnership and support these influential investors are providing Venti as we scale our operations and build our base globally, including targeting growth opportunities in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.,” said Heidi Wyle, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, of Venti. “Their understanding of our innovative technology and huge markets make them particularly powerful partners.”
Representatives of the two lead investors, Lake Dai, Partner, LDV Partners , and Chandra Tjan, co-founder and General Partner, Alpha JWC, are joining the Venti Board, expanding it to five members. Ms. Dai, also an Adjunct Professor of Applied Artificial Intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University, commented, “As a deep tech VC firm, LDV Partners thrives on collaborating with ground-breaking technical teams that leverage advanced technology in software or hardware and validate a strong product market fit. We are delighted to welcome Heidi, her team, and Venti Technologies to our portfolio.”
Mr. Tjan added, “Alpha JWC Ventures is committed to discovering and empowering great founders to build extraordinary companies, and we are proud to start this journey with Venti. This also marks our first investment in autonomous vehicles, which we believe will be a game changer and a first for Asia. Venti's founders, vision, product, and track record so far have been astonishing, and we are very excited to work together to revolutionize the autonomous vehicle industry and achieve huge success on a global basis together.”
Founded by Dr. Wyle, along with Daniela Rus, Ph.D., Director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, and a MacArthur Fellow, and Saman Amarasinghe, Ph.D., a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, as well as Xinxin Du, Ph.D., Venti Technologies uses rigorous mathematical modeling and theoretically grounded algorithms to ensure safety, reliability, cost-effectiveness and top performance. The technology combines innovation in computer science, artificial intelligence and transportation for driverless vehicles in safe speed applications including, ports, airports, factories, warehouses, mining, agriculture and communities.
About Venti Technologies
Based in the U.S. and Asia, Venti Technologies is a safe-speed autonomous mobility company developing the future of transportation for moving goods and people. Using rigorous mathematical modeling, deep learning, and theoretically-grounded algorithms, Venti has developed a proprietary collection of autonomy technologies, including a suite of special purpose logistics algorithms. Venti’s proven value proposition of saving costs, increasing vehicle utilization, improving safety and providing COVID-friendly autonomous vehicles is recognized by customers and driving growth. Launched in 2018, Venti brings together an unsurpassed team internationally. The company currently has autonomous systems deployed in Asia for industrial, logistics, residential, and recreational sites, as well as a growing pipeline in the global logistics marketplace. For more information please visit www.ventitechnologies.com.
About LDV Partners
LDV Partners is a deep tech VC firm built by team of experienced company builders, industry leaders and anchor investors dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed. LDV Partners invests in early-stage technology companies in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Precision Health and Wellness, Smart Enterprise, Digital Consumer, and Sustainability/New Energy. LDV Partners, named in honor of Leonardo Da Vinci, believes that disruption comes from the combination of multiple disciplines. We are honored to partner with exceptional founders to build world-class companies.
About Alpha JWC Ventures
Alpha JWC Ventures is an early to growth-stage Southeast Asian venture capital firm. Over the years, Alpha JWC has established a strong reputation and clear positioning in the market as the leading venture capital firm with one of the largest on-the-ground teams in Singapore/Indonesia and a global network. Its debut fund of USD $50 million was launched in 2016 as Indonesia’s first independent and institutional early-stage venture capital fund. Since then, the first fund has been invested in 23 companies in Southeast Asia, of which more than 90 percent have received follow-on funding and 3 have been acquired by global companies. The firm’s second fund of USD $123 million was closed in 2019 and was invested in 28 fast-growing companies by Q2/2021. For more information, see www.alphajwc.com.
