Neurala, the Boston-based company that’s developed The Neurala Brain, announced it has closed $14 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Pelion Ventures, with participation from Sherpa Capital, Motorola Ventures, SK Ventures, Idinvest Partners, as well as previous investors 360 Capital Partners and Draper Associates Investments.
The company will use the funding to service its growing customer demand. Capital will also go toward developing additional applications to The Neurala Brain, a deep learning neural networks platform that enables autonomy and interactivity in smart products - from toys to vehicles.
“The Neurala Brain was designed from the beginning to transform industries,” Massimiliano Versace, co-founder and CEO of Neurala, said in a statement. “Bio-inspired brainpower can be built right into drones, cars, toys, cameras, and other devices found in the home so that they can learn, see and act. This is essential for applications like drones and self-driving cars, where reaction time is critical and where you can’t always get fast network access. It’s also an endearing capability when built into toys that recognize their young owners by sight and give them a smile without communicating with a server.”
Neurala's neural network software was made for NASA to use in space exploration. The Neurala Brain assesses and learns from its environment much like human brains do, which lets smart products adapt and interact to their surroundings in real time. For example, the software allows toys to learn who they're owners are, while self-driving cars can learn to avoid obstacles.
Last June, Neurala had raised $1.2 million in a round led by Beijing's Haiyin Capital and venture capitalist Tim Draper. Now, with the most recent investment, it has secured a total of $16 million.
