SBI Investment's blockchain and artficial intelligence fund has led a $10.4m series A round for autonomous driving software developer Ascent that will fund R&D.

Japan-based autonomous driving software developer Ascent Robotics secured ¥1.1bn ($10.4m) on Monday in a series A round led by financial services firm SBI Group.

The round also featured a range of angel investors including Bart Joseph Broadman, and followed $800,000 in funding from undisclosed investors in 2016 according to Robot Report. SBI Group participated through its SBI Investment unit’s artificial intelligence and blockchain fund.

Founded in 2016, Ascent Robotics is building an artificial intelligence engine called Atlas AI that will…