Aptiv and CAC Holdings joined corporate venturing units Trend Forward Capital and Motley Fool Ventures in a $26m round that almost doubled the MIT spinout's funding.
Affectiva, a US-based emotion-recognition software spinout of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has received $26m in funding from automotive parts supplier Aptiv, IT services provider CAC Holdings, cybersecurity technology producer Trend Micro and financial data provider The Motley Fool.
Trend Micro and The Motley Fool participated in the round through corporate venturing units Trend Forward Capital and Motley Fool Ventures.
Spun out of MIT Media Lab in 2009, Affectiva is developing software that can identify human emotions by reading and analysing facial expressions. It is also capable of identifying objects people are using and reading the interactions they make.
Companies use the technology to test how consumers engage with advertising, videos and television programming. Automotive manufacturers, ride hailing platforms and fleet managers are also building the software into their vehicles to help understand drivers’ and passengers’ mood and emotions.
The funding will be used to further develop the technology for use in the automotive industry, and more specifically in the development of conversational interfaces and social robotics, in addition to market research.
Affectiva has raised $53m in total, it said. Venture capital firm Fenox Venture Capital led a $14m round for the company in 2016, investing alongside CAC Holdings and game producers Bandai Namco and Sega Sammy Holdings.
Kantar, the consumer insight division of marketing firm WPP, led Affectiva’s $5.7m series B round in 2011 with a reported investment of $3m, participating alongside investment manager Myrian Capital.
The company added $12m in series C funding from Horizons Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and undisclosed existing investors the following year.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.
