This Khosla-based Startup Can Track Drones, Trucks, And Robotaxis, Inch By Inch

For San Francisco-based startup Point One Navigation, nan worth of ‘location, location, location’ extends good beyond existent estate. And investors look to agree.

Point One Navigation, a startup that has developed precise location technology, has conscionable raised $35 cardinal successful a Series C information led by Khosla Ventures. The company’s post-money valuation is now $230 million, according to 1 insider acquainted pinch nan deal.

Point One, which was founded successful 2016, has developed precise location exertion that tin beryllium applied to immoderate conveyance that moves from autonomous user lawnmowers and drones to robots, user vehicles, agriculture equipment, and moreover humans donning a wearable device.

For Point One, precise location intends precisely that. The technology, called a positioning engine, tin find location wrong 1 centimeter successful nan champion conditions, co-founder Aaron Nathan told TechCrunch.

To execute that, Point One has mixed an augmented world navigation outer strategy (GNSS), machine vision, and sensor fusion into an API. Typically that API is deployed arsenic a package merchandise because astir caller vehicles — for illustration a slick EV aliases luxury car — travel equipped pinch nan basal hardware. For vehicles for illustration workplace instrumentality aliases opportunity a first responder that don’t, Point One adds a chipset into nan mix.

Point One started pinch a attraction connected automotive clients — a motion of nan bullish autonomous conveyance exertion times. That assemblage continues to dress up a ample portion of its revenue. Point One couldn’t disclose astir of its commercialized customer names, but it did stock that its exertion supports nan precocious driver assistance and infotainment needs of an EV shaper and is included successful much than 150,000 of its vehicles.

Point One besides has contracts pinch immoderate of nan largest mowing and turf attraction manufacturers, a distribution company’s fleet of 300,000 last-mile transportation vehicles, and a world shaper of thoroughfare and racing bikes.

But nan startup began to branch retired to different sectors astir 2021 erstwhile it announced its $10 cardinal Series A round, according to Nathan. That helped footwear take into precocious gear. Over nan past year, nan number of manufacturers utilizing Point One Navigation’s exertion level has accrued tenfold and spans automotive, robotics, industrial, and wearable sectors.

“And now it’s conscionable accelerating,” Nathan said.

Point One’s latest Series C information will beryllium utilized to build retired each aspects of its technology, including its alleged Polaris RTK Network — a cardinal portion of hardware that helps present centimeter-level accuracy moreover successful sparsely populated areas North America, Europe, and Asia.

“The manufacture keeps pressing to higher precision, from precision agriculture to coating lines to mowing a yard,” Tom Weeks, nan company’s COO told TechCrunch. “You can’t beryllium disconnected by 10 centimeters and spell complete successful a flower bed. So everything’s pressing to nan 1 to 3 centimeter range.”

The startup is besides moving to beef up nan technology’s capacity indoors. Today, vehicles walking from outdoors to an indoor parking building will proceed to person that precise location. But Nathan wants to widen that capacity to business settings wherever a robot, for instance, whitethorn walk nan bulk of its life inside.

“What we’re building adjacent — and that’s portion of what this fundraising for — is, really do we do semipermanent indoor navigation arsenic well,” he said. “When you look astatine nan improvement of nan business, we want to lick ubiquitous location, truthful yet it will beryllium indoors and each domains.”