Smart Road Startup Valerann Raises $5M, Partners With Bosch, Jaguar Land Rover

Tel Aviv-based smart road startup Valerann raised $5 million in a seed financing round led by Rio Ventures Holdings, and 2B Angels, with participation from Spanish telecom company Telefonica, Globes first reported.

Valerann was founded in 2016 by COO Daniel Yakovich and CTO Shahar Bahiri, and is run together with CEO Gabriel Jacobson and CBO Michael Dan Vardi. The startup developed smart road platforms with an eye on future autonomous vehicles. With its end-to-end system that uses different sensors, a unique algorithm, and a communication system, Valerann gathers critical data on road environment, including traffic flow and volume, major accidents and even surface conditions driven by weather.

Tech.eu reported that Valerann is also partnering “with both [German electronics giant] Bosch and Jaguar Land Rover to create a ‘holistic data marketplace’ to support connected and self-driving vehicles.”

Valerann currently runs pilot projects in the UK, the US and in Israel. It expects to begin working with major operators in France and Spain next year, according to Globes.

“The big challenge is that we are changing an industry that is still slow and traditional – the highway operators industry and more broadly infrastructures,” Jacobson told Globes. “But I think and I’m even sure that it is now undergoing a substantial change in its outlook and becoming more rapid and open to innovation because of everything that is happening in the world of autonomous transportation.”

Valerann plans to make its debut at CES (International Consumer Electronics Show) next month, according to Tech.eu.