Sightec raises $2m for autonomous navigation to the aviation market

The company develops an AI based situation awareness system for autonomous flights. The company also announces the appointment of Mobileye executive as its new VP Product.

Tel Aviv-based startup Sightec completed a $2m seed round led by Sherpa InnoVentures and Playfair Capital. Sightec develops visual situation awareness system which is based on pioneering computer vision & AI technologies. The system enables autonomous flying vehicles to navigate, land and perform complex analytics tasks in real-time and with high accuracy, without relying on GPS. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is one of the company’s major clients.

Mimicking the human’s orientation capability that allows us to understand where we are based on what we see, Sightec’s patented innovation gives flying vehicles the ability to analyze its ever-changing surroundings accurately and in real-time, without relying on outside connectivity. Sightec was founded based on research led by Prof. Joseph Francos, head of the Signal Processing track at Ben Gurion University and Sightec’s CTO. Sightec’s technology is serving various types of autonomous flying vehicles, including drones and UAVs and more recently also the emerging category of the flying taxi.

“We are entering the decade of autonomous flights” said Roy Shmuel, Sightec’s CEO. “The commercial drones market is becoming more autonomous with drones that are capable of performing complex tasks that were impossible before, like inspection of critical infrastructure and delivery of goods. The next big aviation project is Urban Air Mobility or the flying taxi. Over the past few years major players like Uber, Airbus and Boeing have introduced the first flying taxi models. What was seen as science fiction is becoming a reality that will change the future of mobility. Sightec is working on innovative AI based technologies for the aviation market with aims to bring higher automation and increase the flight safety, bringing the industry closer to this ambitious vision.”

Sightec also announces the appointment of Assaf Shechner as its new VP Product. Shechner’s last role was Director of Product in Mobileye, where he managed the Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) product line. Assaf holds a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the Technion and MBA from Ben Gurion University and has more than 20 years of experience in the Aviation and Autonomous systems.

“Mobileye understood that future integration of autonomous vehicles is tightly intertwined with immediate integration of technology that will substantially improve driving safety. Sightec is taking the same approach“, says Assaf Shechner. “Alongside our visionary road-map for Urban Air Mobility, Sightec is already working on the current market need for an accurate, safe and reliable solutions for UAVs, drones and other aerial platforms. Future integration of autonomous platforms in the urban airspace will become possible when the industry will assure sufficient safety of those flying vehicles and maximum safety for the surrounding environment.”

Sightec