The Munich-based startup TerraLoupe is creating a new foundation for autonomous driving through intelligent analysis of aerial imagery. The company's technology relies on artificial intelligence and enables the efficient, highly automated creation of digital maps. With the support of the BayStartUP financing network, the startup has now successfully completed its second seven-figure financing round.
High-precision, intelligent maps are the essential foundation for autonomous driving. TerraLoupe analyzes 3D aerial images using AI technology and enriches them with user-specific information for its customers. This makes it possible for the first time to recognize and process objects and infrastructure across a wide area. For example, road networks can be mapped with extreme precision. The information is so accurate to within a few centimeters that self-driving cars equipped with it would be able to react to their environment.
"Detailed knowledge of infrastructure is not only interesting for automotive manufacturers, but also for other industries such as energy and insurance. We will use the seven-figure investment to further develop and launch our product platform, expand sales, and internationalize."
explains TerraLoupe Managing Director Manuela Rasthofer.
"We are delighted with TerraLoupe's success. The team has reached a milestone with the current financing round and can continue to focus on its growth,"
says Dr. Carsten Rudolph, Managing Director of BayStartUP, the contact point for innovative founders supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. The financing was secured through the BayStartUP financing network.
TerraLoupe digitizes the environment – comprehensive user area
Things never look the same in the world around us – which is why technical algorithms have so far been limited in their ability to work with digital mapping services like Google Maps. TerraLoupe is developing neural networks to extract intelligent digital information about objects from ordinary aerial photographs. Like children, the neural networks learn how traffic lights differ from street signs or windows from solar panels. TerraLoupe anonymizes sensitive data – people, for example, are unrecognizable.
