South Korean radar technology firm bitsensing has closed a $25 million Series B funding round that the company said will help it scale its operations, invest in research and development, and explore new market opportunities.
Specifically, the company is pitching its 4D imaging radar sensors and technology to automotive, smart city, and health technology prospects, and according to bitsensing Founder and CEO Dr. Jae-Eun Lee, already is having some success that the new funding will help it to build on.
“For the automotive sector, we are currently working with tier-one OEMs as partners to co-develop and lead mass production of automotive radar systems for applications across Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles,” Lee said. “For smart cities and traffic management systems, we have worked with several governmental organizations and government-funded projects. Most recently, we were selected for the K-City project, in which we are the key provider for a first-of-its-kind traffic system in Verona, Italy. We’ve already kicked this project off and have started planning for the installation of our technology.”
In the booming health tech sector, Lee added, “We are providing radar hardware and APIs for companies to integrate sleep quality monitoring into their software. Our focus is lessening dependence on cumbersome wearables that have been the traditional solution for detecting sleep abnormalities and bringing more privacy-forward, round-the-clock monitoring solutions to the forefront. Current customers in this sector include senior care facilities and hospitals across South Korea, Singapore, and Japan.”
Founded in 2018, bitsensing now has global expansion ambitions, although Lee did not offer details about where and when it will expand first. “Our goal right now is to expand globally through strategic partnerships and to grow our team globally as well,” he said. “We are using this current round of funding to do just that, and don’t have our eye on just one particular geographic region at the moment.”
When bitsensing was formed, we strategically pushed for the commercialization of our automotive-grade 4D imaging radar across various sectors, as we knew that it wasn’t meant to be pigeonholed solely in automotive applications. This aligns with our vision, which is ‘Radar Everywhere, Better Life with Radar’. Because of this vision, we actually have active customers across each of the key pillars of our business and are simultaneously working across various projects and applications for each.
As for the new funding, the Series B round included backing from Korea Development Bank, HL Mando Corporation, Industrial Bank of Korea, Aju Capital, Life Asset Management, and SCL Investment.
Automotive manufacturer HL Mando Corporation, where Lee worked for 10 years as a senior researcher in radar technology, has now participated in four bitsensing funding rounds. While the automotive sector was one of first opportunities bitsensing saw for itself, Lee always has had a broader array of targets in mind.
“When bitsensing was formed, we strategically pushed for the commercialization of our automotive-grade 4D imaging radar across various sectors, as we knew that it wasn’t meant to be pigeonholed solely in automotive applications,” Lee said. “This aligns with our vision, which is ‘Radar Everywhere, Better Life with Radar’. Because of this vision, we actually have active customers across each of the key pillars of our business and are simultaneously working across various projects and applications for each.”
The company’s product lines now include automotive radar that can provide high-resolution 4D imaging with a coverage range of more than 300 meters using an array patterning technique and radar signal processing algorithms. It also has a corner radar product that provides a surround detection solution for autonomous vehicle systems with a 50% advancement in detection range compared to conventional radar, bitsensing claimed.
Other products, in addition to what Lee described above, include bitsensing’s Traffic Insight Monitoring Sensor (TIMOS), an all-in-one traffic sensor that integrates an AI computing device into an intelligent transport system solution. It provides visibility and intelligence across 12 lanes of traffic, vehicle class detection (i.e. cars, motorcycles, etc.), and the ability to identify a host of safety issues, including jaywalking, wrong-way driving, speed violations, and stationary vehicles. It is currently being used across six countries, including South Korea’s Nonsan-Cheonan Expressway.