Fortellix Raises $43 Million to Expand Its Automatic Driving Validation Tech

Fortellix has raised $43 million to expand its products for the automated driving sector.

The Israeli company, which makes safety-driven verification and validation technology for automated driving systems and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), announced the funding in a Wednesday (May 3) news release.

The Series C round, led by 83North with assistance from NVIDIA and Toyota’s Woven Capital growth fund, will help Fortellix speed the development of its product portfolio and expand into new parts of the world.

“Verification and validation technology plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and performance of innovative autonomous systems that are accelerating the future of mobility,” said George Kellerman, managing director at Woven. 

“Foretellix is a leading player in this space, and we are excited to work together to advance automated driving technologies.”

The company’s Foretify verification and validation platform is used by a number of companies in the automotive, trucking and mining sectors to boost automatic driving system development.

The funding comes as a number of companies are working on driverless technology projects, such as last month’s partnership between British grocery chain Asda and autonomous vehicle technology startup Wayve to deliver groceries to customers using self-driving vehicles.

The year-long trial — starting off in West London’s Park Royal section — “will give the supermarket the ability to autonomously deliver groceries to a catchment area of over 170,000 residents across 72,000 households in London,” the companies said in a news release.

Wayve’s self-driving vehicles will join Asda’s online delivery operation at its Park Royal superstore in West London and can drive themselves to shoppers’ homes.  

Both an Asda employee and supervising Wayve safety driver will ride in the vehicle during deliveries, with the supermarket worker delivering the groceries at the customer’s home, the companies said.

And earlier this year, the autonomous vehicle firms Goggo Network and Oxbotica joined forces to advance driverless delivery in Spain, combining the U.K.-based Oxbotica’s autonomous driving technology with Goggo’s middle- and last-mile delivery services for the grocery, food delivery and fast-moving commercial goods spaces.

In the U.S., meanwhile, chain Kroger announced plans last month to use self-driving box trucks from the autonomous vehicle company Gatik to move products from Kroger’s fulfillment center in Dallas to its stores.

“It’s super important to us that we’re repeatable, we’re on time, and that we deliver that fresh full service that [customers are] looking for,” Mike Baker, head of final mile at Kroger, said in a video announcement. “Through this collaboration with Gatik, we’re able to be quicker in our deliveries and focus more on the customer service side of things, which ultimately leads to happier customers and repeat customers.”