SAN FRANCISCO — Humane Inc. announced it has raised a $100 million Series C round ahead of the reveal of its initial product offering this spring.
The round was led by Kindred Ventures with participation from existing investors Tiger Global, Valia Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Lachy Groom, and Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI.
The round also included participation from new strategic investors and partners including Hico Capital (US based investment arm of SK networks), Microsoft, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, LG Technology Ventures, Top Tier Capital, Hudson Bay Capital, and Socium Ventures.
Humane, founded in 2018 by ex-Apple team Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, is creating a first-of-its-kind software platform and consumer device built from the ground up for artificial intelligence (AI). This raise will enable Humane to accelerate on its mission to deliver the next era of personal mobile computing, which will be one driven by AI.
Alongside investment, Humane has secured strategic collaborations with some of the most influential technology companies in the world:
- Humane has partnered with Microsoft to bring its services platform to market. This will see Humane leverage the best cloud infrastructure in AI
- A collaboration with OpenAI will integrate its technology into the Humane device and deliver OpenAI and Humane AI experiences at scale to consumers
- Humane’s future global expansion plans include a collaboration with SK Networks (which covers the ICT device distribution business in Korea and has an extensive global network) to build on the shared ethos of creating meaningful change in consumer technologies
While the initial Humane device will be focused on delivering the next generation of personal technology, the company is exploring ways to bring its solutions into new personal domains in the future:
- A collaboration with LG will see the companies working closely on potential R&D projects for the next phase of Humane products, on the core technology included in future Humane devices and on integration into the home technology space
- Strategic investor Volvo Cars Tech Fund will work with Humane on a potential future collaboration which would be the first example of Humane’s offering being applied to the automotive industry. Like Humane, Volvo Cars develops technology to simplify life for its customers and the partnership is built on the shared values of safety, trust and privacy
Imran Chaudhri, Co-Founder of Humane, said: “Our first device will enable people to bring AI with them everywhere. It’s an exciting time, and we’ve been focused on how to build the platform and device that can fully harness the true power and potential of this technology.”
