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Australian optical autonomy company Arkeus has raised $4.45 million in seed funding, as the company develops artificial intelligence-powered hardware for autonomous drones and aircraft.
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The new funding will allow Arkeus to scale up manufacturing and enhance the capabilities of its core product suite, the Hyperspectral Optical Radar, which is designed to give customers the ability to “see”, understand, and act on their environment in real time.
Arkeus’ optical systems give responders the ability to “see” and respond in real time, using data from a wide range of visible and non-visible light spectra with autonomous capabilities capable of real-time detection, recognition, and tracking of relevant people and objects in complex environments.
In high-risk environments like defence and search and rescue operations, first responders make split-second decisions based on their knowledge of the landscape, objects, and people around them, to this end, Arkeus has secured multiple defence contracts for its autonomous optics technology.
“In high consequence situations where every second counts, defence and emergency responders are often hampered by outdated sensors built for a narrow range of light wavelengths,” according to Arkeus chief executive officer and co-founder Simon Olsen.
“Arkeus is pioneering a new way of sensing, built from the ground up to overcome these limitations and deliver mission-critical information at the point of contact.”
“We saw an opportunity to build something new; hardware-enabled software,” according to Arkeus aerospace engineer Dr Jonathan Nebauer.
“Our technology is customised and optimised to operate in the most adverse conditions, with minimal to no human involvement. Our job is to extract the hardest to get information from the most challenging environments, quickly.”
Funding from deep tech and industry expert investors Main Sequence, Beaten Zone Venture Partners, and Salus Ventures will enable the company to scale its next generation, hardware-enabled software platform for search, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.
To support its continued growth, Arkeus is also actively hiring additional technical staff in mechatronics and engineering at its Melbourne headquarters.
“We were impressed by Arkeus’ ability to build a thriving company in Melbourne during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Alezeia Brown, investment manager at Main Sequence.
“In a short time, they have developed market-leading products, secured major contracts, and shown the versatility to solve operational needs in both defence and commercial sectors.
“Their novel approach of combining hyperspectral imaging, radar and AI has tremendous potential to save lives by giving first responders greater situational awareness.”
“Arkeus’ autonomous optical systems have the potential to revolutionise the search, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance landscape, providing critical information in challenging environments,” according to Salus Ventures managing director Mike Ferrari.
“Their rapid innovation and domain expertise make them a global leader in the field.”
