Opteran develops neuromorphic optical-flow AI, branded Opteran Natural Intelligence, that mimics insect embodied cognition to deliver energy-efficient, robust situational awareness for autonomous machines in structured and unstructured environments. The company says this approach enables real-time vision, collision avoidance and navigation while remaining lightweight and power-efficient. Opteran has already developed stabilised vision, collision avoidance and navigation capabilities using a ground-based system called Hopper and an aerial reference drone. The recent $12 million funding will support the company’s expansion plans, including opening offices in the U.S. to support a growing number of customer pilots. In 2023 Opteran plans to extend its neuromorphic optical-flow technology from computer vision into natural brain decision-making for machines. Company leadership positions the technology as a differentiator to enable wider adoption of autonomy across sectors. Opteran is a University of Sheffield spin‑out based on eight years of research by Professor James Marshall and Dr. Alex Cope and is led by CEO David Rajan. The company reverse‑engineers insect brains onto silicon to create 'natural intelligence' intended to overcome limitations of today's deep learning approaches. Its core product set comprises algorithms and chipsets that enable smaller, lighter, ultra‑low power solutions that operate off‑network and do not require training, targeting edge deployment. Opteran plans to build out functionality across its stack and launch product modules named Opteran Sense (obstacle avoidance and reactive navigation), Opteran Direct (SLAM), Opteran Decide (autonomous decision‑making) and Opteran See (360° camera). It is also launching a Development Kit to enable partners to embed the technology in their applications and will expand its engineering and commercial teams. Financially, the company completed a seed fundraise and previously received a pre‑seed from the Connecting Capabilities Fund and a CCF grant.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jun 2022