• Tier IV

  Participated · Series A · Jul 2019

  TIER IV develops open-source autonomous driving systems and platform products centered on the Autoware project. The company offers a range of autonomous driving software and hardware solutions across multiple platforms and conducts cutting-edge R&D in collaboration with global partners. It positions itself as a pioneer reimagining intelligent vehicles through open source, with an emphasis on building safe and efficient autonomous driving systems. TIER IV aims to accelerate the rollout of autonomous vehicles that benefit society and to support mobility transformations in regional areas. Mitsubishi Corporation made a strategic investment via a third-party allotment to cooperate on transforming regional mobility services, building on prior proof-of-concept tests. TIER IV develops Autoware, an open-source software stack for autonomous driving, and provides scalable platforms across software development, vehicle manufacturing, and service operations. The company emphasizes reference designs and plans to use recent funding to further enhance its software development capabilities and to advocate those reference designs. Proceeds are earmarked to launch production of Level 4 autonomous driving systems and to develop safety-assessment methods that integrate processes and tools. TIER IV was selected for the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s (NEDO) Green Innovation Fund Project and is participating in a US$162M (¥25.4 billion) R&D initiative to introduce scalability to autonomous driving systems. Financially, the company’s Series B now totals US$132M and its overall funding has reached US$243M. The company is based in Tokyo, Japan. TIER IV is the lead developer of Autoware, an open-source autonomous vehicle OS built on Linux and ROS, and offers extensible platforms such as Pilot.Auto and a cloud DevOps platform, Web.Auto. The company provides sensing, localization, perception, planning, control, vehicle interfaces, map data, plus data management, simulation, fleet management, web services, development kits, and training to accelerate deployment. Founded in 2015 and based in Nagoya, Japan, TIER IV says more than 30 vehicles in over 20 countries and over 500 companies participate in its software development. The company positions itself to "democratize" autonomous driving so customers can extend its reference designs to reduce cost, risk, and time to market. TIER IV has pursued commercial automated transport use cases, including a joint venture with Yamaha (eve autonomy) and plans for low-speed electric logistics vehicles and expanded domestic and international services. It has attracted government R&D support as part of Japan's Microautonomy program focused on SAE Level 4 software. Tier IV develops and maintains Autoware, an open-source software platform for self-driving technology. Founded in December 2015 and based in Tokyo, the company supplies Autoware to more than 200 companies worldwide. Use cases include the Udacity Nanodegree Program, the USDOT FHWA’s CARMA platform, automotive manufacturers, and self-driving startups. In December 2018 Tier IV and partners Apex.AI and Linaro 96Boards launched the Autoware Foundation to deploy Autoware in real products and services. The company recently raised over $100 million in a Series A and intends to use the funds to scale its self-driving business. Tier IV plans to commercialize its technology in private areas, depopulated areas, and urban areas.

No current team members are available.