Edge Impulse raises $15M to democratize ML for developers and engineers
Edge Impulse announced the closing of a $15 million Series A investment round led by Canaan Partners with Acrew Capital, Fika Ventures, Momenta Ventures, and Knollwood Investment Advisory.
This funding will support the company’s mission to democratize ML for millions of developers and engineers deploying to billions of edge devices.
99% of sensor data goes unused today, due to limitation in power, bandwidth and cost. Edge Impulse enables this data to be processed efficiently using machine learning optimized for the edge, making products smarter and improving privacy.
The Edge Impulse platform allows developers and engineers to create valuable datasets, then rapidly develop and deploy custom ML models to any edge device from battery-powered sensors to Linux-run GPUs capable of operating actuating pneumatics to robotic arms.
The company’s software is trusted by thousands of developers and enterprises looking to leverage sensor data to bring intelligence to the next wave of smart devices, with a growing list of silicon partners including Arm, Nordic Semiconductor, NVIDIA, Silicon Labs, STMicroelectronics, Microchip, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Himax, and Eta Compute. To date, the platform has been used to produce more than 23,000 projects and 26 million labeled data samples across a wide range of verticals including industrial, infrastructure, wearables, and wildlife conservation, with a global community on trajectory to reach 100,000 developers by 2022.
“We founded Edge Impulse with a mission to empower developers to create the next generation of intelligent devices. We believe that machine learning can enable positive change in society, and we are dedicated to supporting applications for good,” said Zach Shelby, CEO and co-founder of Edge Impulse. “With the backing of Canaan Partners, we find ourselves at a tipping point to land our solutions in more places than before, from manufacturing automation and predictive maintenance, to human and animal sensing, and beyond. We’re now having a serious conversation about how embedded ML is reshaping the way products are being built, used and maintained, ushering in a new era of data-driven engineering.”
Machine learning enables a data-driven engineering approach to solving problems that will impact every industry. For the Internet of Things in particular, using machine learning for data-driven engineering will not only create better systems but will also give life to a whole new class of experiences. And surprisingly, it is going to get a lot simpler to program, update, and manage thanks to platforms like Edge Impulse. With better brains and learning capabilities on the devices, IoT is finally going to live up to its original expectations and transform consumer goods, automotives, agriculture, and manufacturing from the ground up.
“Zach, Jan and the team at Edge Impulse have built a platform that empowers developers to go from idea to deployment of a novel use case of embedded machine learning within minutes,” said Rayfe Gaspar-Asaoka, partner at Canaan Partners. “It truly is a magical experience at the intersection of AI/ML and edge computing. We could not be more thrilled for the opportunity to partner with them on their journey.”