Potential Motors Inc., a Canadian startup developing ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) technology for off-road environments, today announced that it has raised $2 million (Canadian) in a successful extension of its seed round.

The company’s core technology, called Terrain Intelligence, is a software and AI (artificial intelligence) platform that uses forward-facing sensors—usually cameras but could involve radar or lidar—to interpret terrain parameters like shape, incline gradient, surface type, and obstacles. It can deliver multiple outputs, from presenting data to drivers to self-selecting vehicle control adjustments such as drive mode, suspension and differential settings, and torque levels.

The latest funding round for the company, led by CEO and founder Sam Poirier, will be used to drive the commercialization of its perception solutions in the automotive, powersports, mining, and defense sectors. It builds on two previous seed round commitments for a total of $8.5 million raised since May 2020. Investors in the extension include returning partners Brightspark Ventures, Build Ventures, and NBIF (the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation), with Farpointe joining for the first time. They join existing investors, including Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures.

“When we first invested in Potential in 2020, we were excited by Sam’s vision of a future where software-defined vehicles are the norm, and where AI and terrain perception technologies play key roles in performance, safety, and efficiency,” said Mark Skapinker, Managing Partner at Brightspark Ventures. “These predictions are starting to become reality. By renewing our investment, we’re also renewing our vote of confidence in Sam’s leadership and Potential’s technology.”

Potential’s technology first made headlines in a concept vehicle developed by the company.

“We developed the Adventure 1 to help showcase the technology,” Poirier told Futurride when we caught up with him at CES 2024 in Las Vegas in January. “[It] got us really close to the customer to better understand what it is that they care about, especially in an off-road driving situation. Off-road is the harshest environment for testing. You have massive vibration, and tons of changes in the type of terrain that you’re driving over. If you can solve the problems in the off-road industry, then that’s going to enable you to help solve some of the more challenging edge cases of on-road. That’s our trajectory.”

The technology is designed to run using conventional hardware such as cameras already found on nearly all modern vehicles. Around three-quarters of the feature set of Terrain Intelligence can be enabled with a single, standard onboard camera. The company says that the solution gets smarter with every mile by leveraging the power of AI, and it is agile enough to run on vehicles of any size.

“Since 2018, Potential has been developing expertise in off-road environments, computer vision, and AI to make vehicles safer, faster, more agile, and more comfortable in extreme environments,” said Poirier. “But because our solutions can improve outcomes on the road too, our technology could be used in every single vehicle that rolls off the production line, as well as in mission-critical, special-purpose vehicles.”

There are two major elements of the technology, according to Poirier. One is the classification of upcoming objects, the other is understanding the topology of the terrain.

“If you can piece those two parts together, you get a really good picture of what’s happening in the world in front of you,” he said. “You can pull that into the vehicle control system to do some really unique stuff.”

The company announced its first customer in December 2023, Potential announced it had partnered with CFMOTO USA to integrate a “world-first” advanced driver-assist system (ADAS) for off-road recreational vehicles and jointly presented it at CES 2024. The companies are conducting real-world testing at Potential’s off-road proving ground in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and at CFMOTO USA facilities.

In addition to Terrain Intelligence, CFMOTO is evaluating Potential’s Off-Road OS software stack and modular control system, which use data from Terrain Intelligence to self-select vehicle control modes in advance of changes in terrain, surface, and incline. Potential’s R&D into in-cab features is also enabling the off-road vehicle maker to explore how AI and computer vision can assist all users.

“The integration of Potential’s technology into CFMOTO’s vehicles will set new standards in the side-by-side segment,” said Poirier. “As our first commercial program in side-by-sides, this partnership validates the incredible work done over many years by the talented team here at Potential. It’s a landmark moment for all of us.”

Potential expects its products to be used in a variety of on- and off-road vehicles including in automotive, powersports, defense, mining, off-road logistics, and agriculture. It is working on confidential innovation programs with global leaders in the automotive, mining, and defense sectors.