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The Venture Codex

Baido Apollo Fund

250 E Caribbean Dr, Sunnyvale, CA, 94089, US

Overview

Founded by Baidu’s project Apollo, the RMB Equity Investment Fund focuses on the automotive industry and autonomous driving field. This fund seeks to create synergy between Baidu technology and the unique strengths of startups, while helping to extend the reach and impact of Apollo during a time of technological innovation.

Total investments
1
Lead investments
1
Investments · 12mo
0
Active investors
1

Sector focus

  • Financial Services
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Investment portfolio

  • SmarterEye

    Led · Series B · Jan 2021

    Zhongke Huiyan focuses on stereo‑camera (binocular) visual ADAS research and productization, building perception systems for driver assistance and autonomous driving. Its first‑generation aftermarket product is already in mass production and sold in China, the U.S., Europe and South America, offering FCW (forward collision warning), LDW (lane departure warning) and pedestrian detection. A second‑generation FPGA‑based stereo ADAS product is slated for volume production in the front‑fit (OEM) market, and the company is developing a third‑generation ASIC chip. The company also develops in‑vehicle features such as driver face recognition, fatigue detection, 360 surround, head tracking, morphology analysis, lip‑reading and multi‑sensor fusion that the team plans to integrate with future autonomous platforms. Founded in 2014 by engineers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongke Huiyan says proceeds will fund production of gen‑1 and gen‑2 products, front‑fit project customization, visual perception system R&D and third‑gen ASIC development. CEO Jiang An has positioned the financing as providing both capital and strategic resources to accelerate those plans.

Team

  • Roland Gumpert

    Founder