DENSO Group Company NSITEXE Leads Quadric's $21 Million Series B Funding Round to Enhance AI Solutions

Investment advances DENSO's commitment to achieve an environmentally-friendly, safe and secure mobility future

• NSITEXE, Inc., led Quadric's $21 million Series B funding round
• NSITEXE is a DENSO group company that designs and develops key semiconductor components enabling next-generation automotive applications
• DENSO's collaboration with Quadric helps the mobility supplier progress its sustainability and safety goals

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DENSO group company NSITEXE, Inc., a designer and developer of semiconductor components enabling next-generation automotive applications, has led Quadric's $21 million Series B funding round. MegaChips also contributed major investment and existing investors Leawood VC, Pear VC, Uncork Capital, and Cota Capital participated in the round.

NSITEXE first invested in Quadric, an innovator in high-performance edge processing, in 2019 to support the startup's development of edge processing units, a key technology for automated driving. In 2021, NSITEXE and Quadric announced a joint development to create safety solutions for traditional automotive applications, as well as newer ones, such as automated driving, mobility-as-a-service and smart sensors.

"As the AI market matures, businesses are under pressure to accelerate machine learning initiatives and need production-ready, easy-to-deploy AI solutions that don't require building from the ground up," said Tony Cannestra, director of Corporate Ventures at DENSO. "Having evaluated Quadric's q16 processor, its ability to run many types of algorithms efficiently and flexibly allows Quadric's platform to enable AI in new services and products. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Quadric and plan to integrate their IP into DENSO's SoC products."

The Series B investment will help Quadric release the next version of its novel computer architecture, improve its software development kit performance, and roll out IP products for integration in SoCs. Quadric will also expand its team and hire in these key product areas.

"It's an exciting time to be able to partner with industry powerhouses in semiconductors and AI to bring accelerated computing to the Edge," said Veerbhan Kheterpal, Co-founder and CEO of Quadric. "The market is saturated with rigid accelerators. Our product fills the void with a fully programmable multi-kernel processing architecture."

DENSO established NSITEXE in 2017 to create next-generation, high-performance semiconductor devices that innovate automotive solutions.

DENSO invests in companies working on technologies that advance mobility services and that align with DENSO's Two Great Causes: Green – achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 – and Peace of Mind – creating a safe and seamless world for all. Over the past five years, DENSO has invested over $100 million in startups.

About NSITEXE
NSITEXE was established in 2017 as a wholly owned subsidiary of DENSO, one of the world's largest tier one Automotive parts manufacturing companies. The company designs and develops semiconductor IP cores, which are key semiconductor components enabling next generation automotive applications.

About DENSO  
DENSO is a $44.6 billion global mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in its 200 facilities to produce thermal, powertrain, mobility, electrification, & electronic systems, to create jobs that directly change how the world moves. The company's 168,000+ employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO spent 10.0 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. For more information about global DENSO, visit https://www.denso.com/global.  

In North America, DENSO is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and employs 27,000+ engineers, researchers and skilled workers across 51 sites in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. In the United States alone, DENSO employs 17,700+ employees across 14 states (and the District of Columbia) and 41 sites. In fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, DENSO in North America generated $9.3 billion in consolidated sales. DENSO is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion inside the company and beyond – a principle that brings unique perspectives together, bolsters innovation and pushes DENSO forward. Join us, and craft not only how the world moves, but also your career: densocareers.com. For more information, go to https://www.denso.com/us-ca/en/.  

SOURCE DENSO