PreAct Technologies announced it has raised $1.6 million in funding led by Alpha Bridge, joined by elev8.vc and Sony Innovation Fund. The company will use the funds to accelerate market penetration of its precrash sensing and response system that is designed to enable a dramatic reduction in injuries due to traffic accidents in the near term.
Every year, 1.5 million people die and 50 million more are injured in car accidents. Yet, despite significant investments in automotive Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) to avoid collisions, the number of crashes still increases inexorably every year. This not only creates significant human suffering but costs the US economy over $800 million or 4% of GDP annually.
“Car accidents continue to be an everyday fact of life, along with the injuries and deaths that go with them,” said Paul Drysch, CEO and co-founder of PreAct Technologies. “At PreAct, we have built advanced technology that can prevent injuries and fatalities from car crashes by detecting them before they happen and taking action in the milliseconds between a predicted car crash and when it occurs. This technology was originally developed in the defense world where it was used to protect military vehicles from approaching missiles; proving its reliability for operating with objects moving at highway speeds.”
PreAct was established in 2018 with the sole goal of dramatically reducing automotive accidents and fatalities. It uses precision, near-field sensors operating at extremely high speed to sense a vehicle’s immediate surroundings and track all objects in real-time. The unique sensors used by PreAct are also ideal for slower ADAS functions such as self-parking, curb detection, and pedestrian warning. This allows automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to multitask their sensor suite to address both ADAS and precrash for an outstanding combined package.
Through a reliable and high-speed system using near-field optics computing, the company’s safety technology can determine when and where a car collision is going to occur. With this forewarning, it rapidly engages robust countermeasures to protect vehicle occupants. This includes cutting-edge capabilities that allow the vehicle itself to adjust its suspension and internal cab features such as adjusting the seating position to better prepare for impact. External airbags can also be released to cushion the blow and protect vehicle occupants from lethal side impacts, and larger airbags can be deployed that inflate at slower speeds, which protects passengers on all sides.
“Today’s investment in PreAct Technologies marks a continuation of a broad and deeply-rooted automotive investment thesis at Sony Innovation Fund,” said Gen Tsuchikawa, Chief Investment Manager at Sony Innovation Fund, and CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Innovation Growth Ventures. “We are excited to partner with Paul and his team as they set out to save more lives and protect car passengers in a way never before considered possible.”
