Boston-based Affectiva, a developer of human perception AI software, has raised $26 million in a Series B round.
Aptiv, one of Affectiva's commercial partners, led the round, with participation from Trend Forward Capital, Motley Fool Ventures and CAC.
This raise brings the company's total venture funding to $53 million. BostInno first wrote about the round in January.
The company's mission, it proclaims, is to humanize technology. It does this via an AI solution that can read people’s emotions and cognitive states. It's a technological capability that automotive companies are enthusiastic about.
"If we are angry or frustrated or nervous while driving, how do we want our cars to respond to our changing emotional state?" Taniya Mishra, Affectiva's director of AI research and speech scientist, posited in an earlier BostInno report.
Apart from ramping up the deployment of its software in production vehicles, the company will also direct funds towards research and development. Additionally, it plans to increase its headcount within the next six to nine months to help cater clients in other industries, like social robotics, market research and conversational interfaces. Also on the docket? Scouting for locations for a new office in downtown Boston.
Gabi Zijderveld, CMO of the MIT Media Lab spinoff, noted that Affectiva is in active collaboration with seven out of ten of the biggest car companies in the world, including Aptiv's competitors.
"We started entering the automotive market [around] two [to] three years ago when we saw a lot if inbound interest from OEMs as well as tier one suppliers," Zijderveld said.
Other than the automotive industry, Affectiva serves clients in market research, media and advertising, as well as social robotics; the company also works with SoftBank on the Pepper robot. That's not all: It's additionally in early stage conversations with cellphone makers to get its software on phones.
