Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of car accidents and a major reason why car insurance premiums expected to increase in 2025. For commercial fleets, this is a nightmare. But for California-based startup Netradyne, it’s a windfall.
Netradyne provides fleet owners, incl big names like Amazonwith AI-enabled dash cameras that collect vehicle data and video to improve driver safety, reducing accidents by around 50%, per company. The devices, which can be equipped with inward and outward facing cameras, also use edge computers to send real-time alerts to drivers if they are distracted or driving dangerously, while rewarding drivers for good behavior.
TechCrunch last reported on Netradyne’s $150 million Series C in 2021, and since then the company has expanded beyond North America and India and into Germany, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. To fuel this growth in Ireland and Japan in the coming months, Netradyne has just raised a $90 million series at a $1.25 billion pre-money valuation, led by Point72 Private Investments with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and Pavilion Capital.
And with great expansion comes great data. Over the years, Netradyne has collected more than 18 billion miles worth of data, which the company says has helped improve the product to the point of 99% alert accuracy and 25 million better compliance scores.
In addition to global expansion, the new funds will be used to improve the product and strengthen investments in the market.
Today, fleets can access Netradyne’s Safety Manager Assistant, an AI co-pilot that offers a natural language interface to the company’s portal and uses genetic AI to have conversations about data and information. Avneesh Agrawal, CEO and co-founder of Netradyne, told TechCrunch that the company will invest more in genetic AI, adding additional use cases to its co-pilot and a more “hands-on approach.”
Agrawal also noted that Netradyne would use its massive data to develop basic driving models with a focus on cornering scenarios to improve self-driving technology.
“We have rich vision data that analyzes every aspect of road and driving behavior and reads different road signs. No one in the autonomous industry has this kind of data,” Agrawal said. “Our goal now is to train a driving model using genetic artificial intelligence to identify these extreme cases.”
He added that it is not Netradyne’s intention to develop its own AV technology, but to partner with others and offer the startup’s data and knowledge.
Netradyne’s customers span fleets operating in online retail, food and beverage, oil and gas, utilities, construction and more. The startup provides two main products. The first is a quad-view dashboard camera that collects footage from cameras facing the road, facing the driver and two cameras in the side windows, all in one easy-to-install device. This records driver behavior, reduces blind spots and provides evidence in the event of an accident. The second is a dual-view camera, which looks at both the road and the driver.
Fleet owners who need more visibility can use the Hub-X add-on, which is an instrument camera extension that supports up to four additional cameras to be placed wherever they are needed, such as in the back of a bus.
The startup also offers a driver monitoring solution that can be added to the quad camera to detect sleepiness while driving using a special sensor with night detection and the ability to view through most sunglasses, according to the company.
In response to drivers’ privacy concerns, Agrawal says Netradyne is GDPR compliant and never provides drivers with personally identifiable information externally.
“Investing in Netradyne is about believing in safer roads and supporting professional drivers,” said Sri Chandrasekar, managing partner at Point72 Private Investments. “Since our initial investment in 2018, we have watched Netradyne’s impressive growth and believe its technology is well-positioned to not only empower fleet managers but also foster a culture of safe driving.”
Agrawal said Netradyne has grown 65% in the past 12 months and expects to be net profitable next year.
