Potential Motors Raises $2.5-Million To Develop Vehicle Safety And Performance Software
FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick startup will be expanding its team and further developing its technology thanks to a $2.5 million seed round.
Potential Motors, a software company that uses Artificial Intelligence to boost vehicle safety and performance, announced this week that it raised $2.5 million in private equity financing as part of a seed round.
The round was led by Build Ventures and includes Brightspark Ventures and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF). Build Ventures’ General Partner Patrick Keefe has also joined the board.
This follows the recent news that Marcel LeBrun and Chris Newton, part of the founding teams of Radian6 and Q1 Labs, joined the team.
Potential Motors co-founder and CEO Sam Poirier told Huddle that with Covid-19 impacting the automotive industry, the funding round is very important for the company.
“I think it’s really been awesome for us, especially right now with everything that’s going on with Covid-19 and how it’s having an impact on the automotive industry,” he said.
“It’s really great that we were able to pull this together and have Build [Venutures], NBIF and BrightSpark coming on to join us in this journey. They’ve already been able to bring a lot of value in terms of mentorship and leadership from their side.”
The company was originally founded by Poirier, Isaac Barkhouse and Nick Dowling, and is working to develop the next-generation electric vehicle (EV) control system. Potential Motor’s core software, RallyAI, controls all drive elements of the vehicle including power, braking, and steering at each wheel. These new capabilities create a safer and more responsive driving experience.
“Potential Motors has not only picked a space that is ripe for massive disruption but they have also assembled a team with the know-how to build a world-class software platform,” said Patrick Keefe, general partner at Build Ventures, in a release. “We look forward to seeing them achieve their bold vision.”
Poirier says some of the funding will be used to grow the company’s team of 12 in Fredericton.
“It’s primarily going to be used for expanding the team,” he said. “Right now, we’re looking to fill out a couple of different roles, primarily around expanding our software development team.”
Potential Motors is currently working on developing and perfecting its technology but is already starting to lay the groundwork to bring it to market.
“Right now, we’re really focused on building up the technology. A good portion of our team is focused on that aspect. We’re making a lot of progress on mainly on doing prototyping of the software, go step by step as we reach our own milestones,” said Poirier. “And at the same time, starting to reach out to different companies to start that conversation.”