Intel, Samsung Back $57M Funding for Landing AI

Intel and Samsung have backed a series A funding of $57 million for Landing AI, led by industrial IoT investor McRock Capital. Landing AI developers are looking to bring continuous integration to industrial machine vision models.

Other investors included Far Eastern Group’s fund, DRIVE Catalyst, as well as Walsin Lihwa Stainless Steel, Insight Partners, Taiwania Capital, CPP Investments and AI Fund.

The funding will help drive new iterations of Landing AI’s LandingLens product, and enable it to bring on new hires.

It comes as smart manufacturing is on the cusp of a new boom, according to George Mathew, managing director at Insight Partners. Mathew said digital modernization of factories could be a $300 billion market in just two years.

Machine vision uses connected cameras on the factory floor to flag product defects on the assembly line.

IoT smart cameras are only one part of the equation. Machine vision models must not only be trained to recognize the shapes of objects, but also accurately recognize defective goods. Before it is ingested by machine vision algorithms, the enterprise’s existing IoT sensor data must be effectively refined.

Rather than have software engineers refitting AI models to understand incoming data, Landing AI’s platform aims to rationalize inbound information better, allowing automated machines to understand it quicker. It’s designed to be a no-code or low-code approach. 

LandingLens is positioned as a machine learning operations platform, an offshoot of the continuous integration and development philosophy whereby IT software tweaks are pushed out more frequently. 

The startup says its technology can help implement visual inspection in factories within weeks.

Landing AI’s clients include QuantumScape, an advanced battery maker that’s working with Volkswagen on long-lasting electric vehicle energy storage.

“Partnering with Landing AI can improve the reliability and efficiency of our quality inspection process, which is important to our company’s growth,” said Tim Holme, co-founder and chief technology officer at Quantum Scape. “Using cutting-edge deep learning tools like LandingLens enables our team to move faster and focus on developing and commercializing our next-generation batteries.”