Hyundai Invests in Teleoperations Startup Ottopia - $9M Round

From Military Tech to Autonomous Vehicle Oversight

Amit Rosenzweig, having dedicated a significant portion of his career to highly sensitive sectors – including service in the Israeli Air Force, Israeli Intelligence, and cybersecurity development at Microsoft – shifted his focus toward the realm of autonomous vehicles.

He quickly identified a crucial requirement for this emerging technology, recognizing that it would necessitate the involvement of human oversight, a standard practice in all critical systems.

The Necessity of Human-in-the-Loop Systems

“My assessment was that numerous unpredictable scenarios will remain unresolved solely through artificial intelligence and machine learning,” Rosenzweig explained in a recent discussion. “Therefore, some form of human intervention is essential.”

He emphasized that no existing mission-critical infrastructure – from nuclear power facilities to commercial aircraft – operates without human supervision. A human element, either directly involved or readily available, is vital for the successful implementation of autonomous mobility, even within the next decade or two.

The Founding of Ottopia

This conviction regarding the “human in the loop” led Rosenzweig to establish Ottopia, a teleoperations startup, in 2018. His brother, Oren Rosenzweig, is also involved in the autonomous vehicle industry as a co-founder of the lidar company, Innoviz.

Ottopia’s initial offering is a versatile teleoperation platform, enabling remote monitoring and control of various vehicle types from considerable distances. The company integrates its software with readily available hardware, such as displays and cameras, to create comprehensive teleoperations centers.

Furthermore, Ottopia’s software incorporates assistive functionalities, providing guidance to autonomous vehicles without requiring constant remote control.

Investment and Partnerships

Since its inception, the 25-person company has attracted investment and forged partnerships with prominent entities like BMW, May Mobility, and Bestmile. Ottopia announced on Friday a $9 million funding round led by Hyundai Motor Group, alongside Maven and IN Venture, Sumitomo Corporation’s Israel-based venture capital arm.

Existing investors, MizMaa and NextGear, also contributed to this funding.

Board Expansion

As part of the investment, Hyundai and IN Venture have secured seats on Ottopia’s board of directors. Woongjun Jang, head of Hyundai’s autonomous driving center, and Eyal Rosner, managing partner at IN Venture, will now serve as board members.

To date, Ottopia has secured a total of $12 million in funding, and Rosenzweig is actively planning a larger funding round to support the company’s continued expansion.

Future Growth and Diversification

Currently, Rosenzweig is concentrating on expanding the workforce to 50 employees by year-end and establishing a U.S. office. The company is also exploring applications of its teleoperations software beyond automotive, including sectors like defense, mining, and logistics.

However, the primary focus will remain on the automotive industry, specifically the deployment of self-driving cars, trucks, and shuttles.

The Core Motivation

“Our primary goal is straightforward – though challenging to achieve – which is to accelerate the availability of affordable autonomous transportation,” Rosenzweig stated. “The core issue is that if an AV lacks a safety net like teleoperations and becomes immobilized, passengers will understandably become concerned and anxious about the situation.”

Partnership with Via

Rosenzweig also highlighted the need to integrate autonomous vehicles with efficient transit services, pointing to a recent partnership with Via, an on-demand shuttle and transit software company.

Through this collaboration, announced this week, Via will offer autonomous vehicle fleets that combine its fleet management software with Ottopia’s teleoperations platform. Via does not independently develop self-driving software.

In November 2020, Via announced a partnership with May Mobility to launch a platform integrating on-demand shared rides, public transportation, and accessibility options for passengers.