Venture capital firm Accel has led a $30 million Series A for SE3, a company developing spatial intelligence software for autonomous systems. Accel announced the investment on November 12.
SE3 combines computer vision and AI to turn sensor data into spatial intelligence. The software is designed to help machines operate autonomously in complex environments, including when satellite navigation is disrupted.
The company’s immediate focus is European defense. Its longer-term vision includes robotics and other civilian settings where machines must operate in unpredictable conditions.
Accel says SE3 is building sovereign, platform-agnostic software that integrates with manufacturers’ hardware without competing with it.
SE3 is working on multiple contracts with Ukraine and Germany’s armed forces. It is also an AI partner to defense companies including HENSOLDT, and to scale-ups Auterion and ERC System.
SE3’s founders are Lukas Köstler, Simon Klenk and Professor Daniel Cremers. Köstler and Klenk were pursuing PhDs in computer vision and robotics when they met at a research lab at the Technical University of Munich.
Accel said the investment reflects the team’s technical expertise, the significance of the problem it is addressing and strong customer traction. The funding marks the next stage in SE3’s long-term commitment to European defense, the firm said.
