Autonomous vehicle software startup Applied Intuition has closed a $300 million secondary sale after raising $250 million in just four months. This is another sign of how hot the investment climate for AI companies is. In the second round of funding, new investors such as Fidelity Management & Research Company joined existing investors. The company's investors include Lux Capital's Bilal Zuberi, Elad Gil, Andreessen Horowitz and Mary Meeker's growth fund Bond. The round allowed current and former employees and early backers to sell shares.

Applied Intuition

Founded in 2017, Applied Intuition produces software for other companies to develop and test autonomous vehicle solutions. This software creates simulations that allow automotive manufacturers to evaluate sensing systems and vehicle behavior systems. It also provides software that helps them deal more efficiently with the large volumes of data associated with autonomous driving.

Qasar Younis, co-founder of Applied Intuition, said in a statement that the company aims to be the first company automotive manufacturers or defense companies call when they need to solve software or artificial intelligence problems. The company has agreements with “18 of the top 20 automotive manufacturers” such as General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen, and collaborates with autonomous vehicle startups such as Gatik, Motional and Kodiak, he said.
In addition to generative AI startups, where investors are still investing large sums, secondary sales have also gained popularity in general. In the first half of 2024, more than 250 startups in this space raised a total of $12.3 billion, according to Crunchbase data. Additionally, as the IPO market has shrunk for tech startups, secondary sales have grown. According to Industry Ventures data, the market for secondary sales has grown from about $35 billion in 2017 to an estimated $138 billion in 2023.