XL Innovate leads $37 mn Series B in road safety analytics firm Zendrive

San Francisco-based road safety analytics firm Zendrive has raised $37 million in a Series B round of funding led by XL Innovate.

Existing investors like ACME Capital, BMW iVentures, NYCA and SignalFire along with a new investor Hearst Ventures also participated in the round, the company said in a statement.

Zendrive, run by Inner Circle Technologies, will deploy the funds to strengthen mobile driving safety solutions. It also plans to grow its teams across five continents to deepen its focus on the global insurance market.

“Zendrive was founded to make roads safe with data and analytics. As we enter this next phase of the business, we are excited to continue to push the innovation curve forward and align with partners who are similarly committed to improving driving behavior using technology and incentives,” said Jonathan Matus, co-founder and chief executive officer, Zendrive.

The startup has rolled out FullStop, a mobile-powered risk solution for stop sign violations designed for the InsureTech industry, the company said.

“FullStop technology developed in Zendrive’s Bangalore R&D centre is available for select partners using Zendrive’s RiskReveal, the award-winning suite of smartphone-based solutions for insurers, which brings the power of AI to underwriting, loss control, and claims processing,” said Pankaj Risbood, technical co-founder, Zendrive. 

Zendrive has offices in San Francisco and Bengaluru. The research and development (R&D) centre is based in Bengaluru since 2014 and includes data science, engineering, and product teams.

“No one ever imagined that smartphone sensors could detect stop sign violations without dedicated hardware like dash-mounted cameras. Zendrive’s data science capabilities are pushing the envelope from what’s conceivable to what’s now currently possible,” said Tom Hutton, XL Innovate.

“Our world-class team of data scientists and engineers are building technology that reduces collisions, improves road risks and ultimately saves lives. It’s of utmost importance that we invest in our teams as they tackle important technical challenges that also have a direct social impact,” added Risbood.

Founded in 2013, Zendrive has raised $57 million in funding over four rounds including the current Series B round of funding.

In 2016, the company had raised $13.5 million in a Series A funding led by Shervin Pishevar of Sherpa Capital, Nyca Partners and Thomvest Ventures.