While Tesla is yet to enable its own autonomous self-driving features in their cars, Minus Zero may bring the technology to India as early as next year. The Bengaluru-based startup was able to raise $1.7 million today.
The seed fundraising was led by Chiratae Ventures. The company has also received backing from JITO Angel Networks and other senior executives from Nvidia and Lyft as well, according to the company’s post.
Minus Zero aims to bring autonomous self-driving capabilities at more affordable prices to a larger consumer base. The founders, Gagandeep Reehal and Gursimran Kalra first showcased their idea in 2021. They were able to successfully test their technology on a three-wheeler rickshaw and intend to bring it to their own vehicle too.
Glad to announce our latest fundraise led by @ChirataeVC @tcmsundaram Congratulations @GagandeepReehal pic.twitter.com/cPiTd3In8rMay 23, 2022
The company has also announced that they intend to utilise the funds for further R&D on autonomous vehicles. Minus Zero also aims to expand its team to begin development on their cars as well which could arrive by late 2022 and early 2023 in India. To enable the technology for self-driving, the company uses camera-based vision and algorithms. The systems will be designed to analyze and make decisions similar to human instincts.
With the company working on multiple patents, the company claims that the technology will help improve the decision-making process for the system based on important factors like the road infrastructure, driving behaviour of other motorists on the road and the weather conditions in the area.
Promising and distant future
Tesla and Google have been trying to make autonomous vehicles mainstream for years. The former company has been testing out its features on its cars and there seems to be some more work to polish it out. Google’s Waymo is also on track to work well. Though these technologies are still in their infancy, it's exciting to see a company in our country working to make them as affordable as possible.
The company is still young in comparison to its international competitors, but there are no other establishments in India looking into autonomous vehicles at the moment. It will be interesting to see how the company designs the system, especially with the kind of rash driving and overtaking we see on our roads.
Via: Business Insider
