Israeli traffic management startup raises $50 million to expand to Europe and Japan
Source：The Times of Israel
From：Taiwan Trade & Innovation Center, Tel Aviv
Update Time：2023/07/28
Israeli startup NoTraffic, a developer of an AI-managed traffic platform has raised $50 million from a Series B funding round that it will use to expand its global footprint to European markets and to Japan.
The financing round was led by London-based insurer and asset manager M&G Investments with participation from Swedish investment fund VNV Global and UMC Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp.
Current investors including early stage venture capital firm Grove Ventures, Vektor Partners, Next Gear Ventures, North First Ventures, Meitav Investment House, Alchimia Investments, and TMG also joined. The current round takes NoTraffic’s total funds raised to date to $75.5 million.
Founded in 2017 by CEO Tal Kreisler, CTO Uriel Katz, and VP R&D Or Sela, NoTraffic set out to innovate technology for traffic light management that is more than a century old with the goal of easing congestion, preventing collisions, and cutting carbon emissions.
The startup has developed an autonomous traffic management system that uses AI algorithms and cloud-connected smart sensors to track road movement in cities and better control and prioritize the flow for all kinds of transportation — cars, bicycles, buses, pedestrians – at urban intersections. The plug-and-play autonomous traffic management platform can be installed within two hours, and reduces congestion and travel time by as much as 50%, the company says.
“Much like mobile phones disrupted the fixed line of their business, it was Apple’s AppStore that opened the door to a vast range of new applications, business models and revenue pools. NoTraffic’s SaaS platform is designed to similarly create unique insights and functionalities that can flexibly be provided to stakeholders without changes to the infrastructure,” said Kreisler. “This funding is another step in our mission to revolutionize the way traffic is being managed today and enables the next generation of advanced mobility services to help better adapt our infrastructure for the rise of autonomous vehicles.”
The new funding round will be used to increase production, R&D and sales, and expand deployment of its platform into new global markets including Japan, Italy, Germany, and the UK, the startup said.
NoTraffic works with a network of partners and distributors, including local and state departments of transportation to manage traffic in real time. Its AI-powered traffic signal platform is currently deployed in multiple cities and states across North America, including California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Georgia and Vancouver. The startup has offices in Tel Aviv, Palo Alto, and Phoenix and works with leading corporates, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Rivian, Ford, Pfizer, and Nvidia.
“NoTraffic is solving longstanding urban problems while simultaneously taking critical steps to prepare roads for an era of connected and autonomous vehicles,” said Carl Vine, portfolio manager at M&G Investments.
Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-traffic-management-startup-raises-50-million-to-expand-to-europe-and-japan/