SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - December 08, 2015) - Swift Navigation, a San Francisco-based startup building centimeter-accurate GPS technology that will power a world of autonomous vehicles, announced today that it has raised an $11 million series-A round led by Lior Susan and Pierre Lamond of Eclipse, with participation from New Enterprise Associates and Promus Ventures. Series-A participants from the original seed round include First Round Capital, Felicis Ventures, Fall Line Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Lemnos Labs. Swift Navigation's Board of Directors expanded to include Lior Susan. To date, the company has raised a total of $13.6 million in funding.
From self-driving cars and drones to precision agriculture machinery and consumer robotics, Swift Navigation provides centimeter-accurate GPS for a future of autonomous vehicles to navigate the world. By moving GPS positioning from custom hardware to a flexible software-based receiver, Swift Navigation delivers Real Time Kinematics (RTK) GPS that is 100 times more accurate than the GPS in a cell phone at a fraction of the price of the competition. With over 1,200 customers for its first product, Piksi™, the company has already experienced high demand for its low-cost, high-performance GPS receiver.
"Swift Navigation's focus on optimizing inexpensive off-the-shelf cell phone components with sophisticated software is one of the main factors that sets it apart," said Lior Susan, partner and founder of Eclipse. "Their forward-looking approach offers highly-accurate, cost-effective solutions with a wide array of applications that address the needs of the autonomous economy today and well into the future."
"By offering the highest level of accuracy at a fraction of the price, Swift Navigation is unlocking the power of RTK GPS for a world of new innovators as well as established industry leaders that must scale for exploding market demand," said Pierre Lamond from Eclipse, who has backed such prestigious companies as Cypress Semiconductor, Skybox Imaging and YouTube.
Swift Navigation plans to use the funds to take current customers to scale while growing its team, and investing in core engineering and R&D. The company looks forward to introducing two next generation products in 2016.
"This is not your cell phone's GPS, which is accurate to about 10 feet. That's good enough if you're looking for a restaurant, but doesn't come close to helping autonomous vehicles navigate the world," said Tim Harris, CEO of Swift Navigation. "With our centimeter-accurate GPS, a car knows what lane it's in, a tractor knows what row it's in, and a drone can drop the package on your doorstep, not in your neighbor's pool."
ABOUT SWIFT NAVIGATION
Swift Navigation provides centimeter-accurate RTK GPS positioning technology for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), precision agriculture, self-driving cars, robotics, surveying and more. Its products deliver 100 times better accuracy than the GPS in a cell phone -- at a fraction of the price of the competition. By optimizing inexpensive off-the-shelf cell phone components with sophisticated software, Swift Navigation has already delivered radically less expensive and more flexible solutions to over 1,200 customers of its first product, Piksi. Swift Navigation is enabling a world where fields farm themselves, drones fly safely and autonomous transportation can take you home. Visit the company online at www.swiftnav.com or follow Swift Navigation on Twitter @Swiftnav.
ABOUT ECLIPSE
Eclipse Ventures is redefining the way investments are made in hardware-focused companies. We see a world where hardware, robust software architecture and compelling data insights are no longer three separate business models. Rather, they are the three pillars that define successful systems companies of the future. Eclipse was founded by Lior Susan in 2015 and has made sixteen investments to date.