KKR Leads US$68 million Series B Funding Round in AI Leader Advanced Navigation - Seite 2

Mukul Chawla, Partner and Head of Growth Equity, Asia Pacific for KKR, said, “Advanced Navigation has established itself as a leading innovator in the robotics sector by developing differentiated AI-enabled software with a wide range of applications. As demand for autonomous technology continues to grow, we are excited to collaborate with Xavier, Chris and the Advanced Navigation team. We see significant opportunity for the Company to tap into KKR’s global network, operational expertise, and experience in technology investing to accelerate the Company’s efforts to expand globally and build out its platform. Advanced Navigation marks our first technology growth investment in Australia, an important market for KKR overall, and for our growth equity franchise and its dedicated team based in Sydney.”

Louis Casey, KKR’s growth technology lead in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, said, “Advances in autonomous navigation technology that leverages AI to reduce sensor cost while improving performance can rapidly increase enterprise and consumer applications globally. We are very pleased to work alongside the Advanced Navigation team to support the Company’s growth.”

In addition, Louis Casey and Vance Serchuk, Executive Director of the KKR Global Institute, will join Advanced Navigation’s board of directors. General David Petraeus (U.S. Army, Ret.), Partner, KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, will chair a new advisory committee that targets to support the Company’s global expansion efforts.

General Petraeus said, “I look forward to chairing Advanced Navigation’s International Advisory Board to help introduce the Company’s critical technology to new markets and opportunities, including in the aerospace, defense, and security sectors.”

KKR makes its investment from its Asia Next Generation Technology strategy, which seeks to support the growth of companies in the Asia Pacific region that offer differentiated, technology and technology-enabled solutions. Other investments from the strategy include Privy, a digital trust provider in Indonesia; GrowSari, a business-to-business e-commerce platform serving small-and-medium enterprises (“SMEs”) in the Philippines; and KiotViet, a software platform for SMEs in Vietnam; and dataX, a customer relationship management software platform in Japan. Additional details of the transaction are not disclosed.