Point One Navigation Emerges from Stealth, Raises $10M
November 8, 2021
Point One Navigation, which is developing precision location technology, has announced it has emerged from stealth mode and closed a $10 million Series A round of funding. The round was led by UP.Partners, with participation from existing investors BOLT, IA Ventures and Ludlow Ventures.
The company’s API is helping automotive OEMs, trucking companies, drone manufacturers, heavy equipment makers, delivery services and consumer electronics companies that rely on precise location for safe and effective operation. The company’s technology enables centimeter-level global accuracy by combining augmented GNSS, computer vision, and sensor fusion in a powerful API compatible with several existing platforms.
“Precise location is key for safe and effective operations across all areas of mobility and transportation – from automobiles and drones to trucks and heavy machinery,” said Ben Marcus, the co-founder and managing partner at UP.Partners. “The team at Point One Navigation is solving a real challenge, combining unparalleled technical chops with proactive solutions for the quickly evolving moving world.”
Point One said it can save companies years of development time by delivering a trusted full stack solution for companies looking to link digital capabilities to the physical world. The system includes sensor fusion algorithms that are portable to any architecture, and self-calibrate to enable peak performance on real-world deployments. The company said it is the only provider to bundle corrected GNSS signals, proprietary sensor fusion algorithms, and advanced computer vision into a comprehensive solution. In addition, each element is built on open standards, letting customers select the optimum solution set for their particular use case.
The company offers three components:
- Polaris is a GNSS correction service that unlocks more than 10 centimeters of global accuracy with a coast-to-coast footprint and several connectivity options, including delivery over cellular and L-Band. The network is purpose-built for automotive and robotics customers, and includes advanced anti-jam, interference mitigation, end-to-end security and automatic integrity monitoring.
- Fusion Engine is a portable, tightly coupled multi-frequency GNSS/INS engine that includes best-in-class dead reckoning. It combines data from multiple sensors to achieve high accuracy and resilience to extended blockages and delivers a confidence signal so upstream services know when the position solution can be trusted.
- V-MAP is Point One Navigation’s advanced computer vision solution, which turns regular vehicles into a mapping fleet. The system uses commodity cameras to run efficient, unsupervised scene reconstruction algorithms to support globally registered map construction. When deployed across a fleet, V-MAP enables centimeter-level positioning in all environments, including urban canyons and parking structures.
“Point One Navigation’s full suite of offerings enable precise location on anything that moves in the real world,” said Aaron Nathan, CEO and co-founder of Point One Navigation. “We’re thrilled to be working with a group of investment partners who understand that the future of mobility is tied to how well machines can precisely orient themselves, enabling broader and safer applications for autonomous technology.”
The company said it is offering the Atlas development kit as a way to enable customer evaluations. Atlas is a reference platform that can be integrated into production solutions, and includes an automotive-grade multi-frequency GNSS receiver, a 64-bit ARM quad core processor, and built-in cellular modem with SIM card. For more details, visit the Point One Navigation website here.
