SlamCore locates $5m

SlamCore, a UK-based robot software developer spun out of Imperial College London, received $5m on Friday in a round featuring Toyota AI Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of carmaker Toyota.
The round was led by venturing firm Amadeus Capital Partners and also included the Toyota-backed investment fund Mirai Creation Investment, in addition to MMC Ventures and Octopus Ventures.
Founded in 2016, SlamCore develops artificial intelligence-powered software that allows robots and drones to automatically sense their surrounding environment, a function known as Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping.
The software depends on spatial algorithms and runs without referring to GPS satellite coordinates. It can be installed on a range of existing robotic devices.
SlamCore was co-founded by Stefan Leutenegger, a senior lecturer in the Department of Computing who specialises in the navigation of autonomous robots.
The spinout received an undisclosed seed sum in May 2017 from Imperial’s tech transfer affiliate, Imperial Innovations, Amadeus and Sparx Group. Imperial Innovations is now owned by commercialisation firm IP Group.
Stefan Leutenegger said: “We are seeing a convergence of geometric computer vision algorithms, availability of high-performance computational hardware, and deep learning. We are embracing this new world and will move quickly towards offering solutions for robots requiring an advanced level of understanding of their environment.”