Belgium-based OTIV, an AI company that improves the safety and efficiency of railway transport by teaching vehicles to drive autonomously, announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round of funding.
OTIV claims it will use the funds to further develop its technology platform and accelerate its pilots and roll-outs with leading customers in the rail industry. In the short term, the company also looks to expand its team at the HQ in Ghent.
The investors
The funding was co-led by Netherlands-based SHIFT Invest and Belgium’s Finindus. Existing investor imec.istart also participated in the round.
SHIFT Invest is a Dutch impact venture capital fund that invests in innovations related to food & agriculture, green industries, energy transition, and sustainable mobility & logistics. It backs startups that are achieving a positive environmental impact and financial return.
Willem Poerink, Investment Manager at SHIFT Invest, says, “OTIV is one of the only European startups focusing on Autonomous Train Operations (ATO), an essential innovation to increase railway capacity and therefore contributing to the modal shift from road to more sustainable rail. Autonomous operations and sustainability are both important topics for our partners (a.o. NS, Schiphol, KLM).”
Finindus is funded by ArcelorMittal and the Flemish Region, and is linked to OCAS, a metal research centre. The firm provides early-stage and growth financing to companies offering smart and green industrial technologies in the field of materials, sustainable manufacturing and industry 4.0.
Roel Callebaut, Investment Manager at Finindus, adds, “OTIV will quickly become a reference player in autonomous rail technology with their OTIV.ONE product, already being used daily in industrial railyards. The team convinced us with a deep technical and market expertise and we’re happy to support their ambitious growth plans.”
“Leading the autonomous revolution in rail”
Founded in 2020 by Sam De Smet and Niels Van Damme, OTIV is an autonomous vehicle company that aims to increase the safety and efficiency of railway vehicles in complex environments by teaching them to drive autonomously.
The company offers AI-based help systems, remote control solutions, and completely autonomous systems. These solutions concentrate on various rail vehicle use cases, such as trams and light rail, freight trains, commercial locomotives, and mainline systems.
OTIV works with leading rail operators such as SNCF, Deutsche Bahn, NS and ProRail, as well as industrial companies like ArcelorMittal. This includes pilots as well as large-scale roll-outs. For instance, NS Dutch Railways tested OTIV object detection software for passenger trains in marshalling yards in 2020. Additionally, OTIV collaborates with European producer of rolling stock CAF to install assistance and autonomous systems on urban trains (trams).
Modal shift to more sustainable rail
OTIV says a “modal shift” to rail is necessary to meet the EU Commission’s Green Deal target of lowering CO2 emissions from transportation. And to convert significant quantities of traffic from cars, trucks, and aeroplanes to environmentally friendly rail-based transportation, rail infrastructure must be improved for both people and freight.
According to the Belgium startup, one freight train may transport the same amount of cargo as up to 50 trucks, while emitting 9 times less greenhouse gas. Rail transportation for passengers may be up to 12 times more energy efficient and emit up to 11 times less CO2 per passenger kilometre than motor vehicles.
OTIV also informs that in this “modal shift”, autonomous train operations (ATO) are crucial. ATO enhances network safety overall while increasing the cost-effectiveness of rail, boosting network capacity, and dependability, and helping to address the issue of driver shortages.
OTIV to automate and remote-control freight trains on Betuweroute
In December, the Belgium-based company said it has secured a contract with a European freight train operator for the first operational trial of automated and remote-controlled heavy freight trains on the Dutch part of the Betuweroute.
This is one of the first initiatives in the world that intends to create and evaluate the operational trial-based standards for automated, remote heavy freight train operation. The trail will be held on a designated freight track, the Dutch portion of the Betuweroute, which serves as the primary rail link between the Port of Rotterdam and the German industrial Ruhr region.
For the project, OTIV is part of the REMOOT consortium, together with Mobility42 and Rail Systems Engineering.
