Conti and ZF invest in software start-up Apex.AI

The two German suppliers and technology companies Continental and ZF have acquired shares in the German-American automotive software specialist Apex.AI almost simultaneously, underlining the importance of vehicle software for future developments. The company was founded in 2017 by Jan Becker and Dejan Pangercic in Palo Alto, but the roots of the start-up lie in Germany - the two founders know each other from their student days in Munich.

Becker and Pangercic then worked for 15 years at the technology company Bosch. Becker, as a leading engineer, developed the first department for autonomous driving at Bosch’s Palo Alto location. In 2015, he switched to the start-up scene and worked for two years at the American-Chinese electric car manufacturer Faraday Future. In 2017, the two software specialists took the step to start their own company. To expand the location in Germany, they recently recruited the data communication expert Michael Pöhnl from Bosch. Apex.AI currently employs 60 people, 20 of them in Germany. It maintains offices in Munich and Berlin.

Second funding round brings ZF and Contil on board.

How much money Apex.AI raised in a first funding round from venture capital firm Canaan or manufacturers like Volvo and Toyota is not known. But after Apex AI won the innovation award in the Vehicle Intelligence and Transportation category at the digital Consumer Electronics Show CES the technology companies Continental and ZF are now also investing in the software company.

Highest functional safety standard.

The intelligence of next-generation vehicles is increasingly migrating to a few central high-performance computers. The software running on them should be as easy to update and expand with new functions as a smartphone.

Apex.OS is a meta-operating system originally developed for robotics applications. Apex.AI has further developed this operating system for the automotive sector and received ASIL D certification from TÜV Nord under ISO 26262 for functional safety for vehicles. According to this, there may be less than ten failures in ten billion operating hours.

The core software for high-performance computers in the car, including the associated software development kits, is immediately available and thus offers automakers the opportunity to deploy personnel resources more intensively in other areas that provide a clear differentiation for the end customer. Apex.OS can be used in all vehicle types such as cars, robotaxis, shuttles, and commercial vehicles regardless of their degree of automation.

ZF acquires a five percent stake in Apex.AI

ZF strengthens its automotive software business by acquiring shares in the software company Apex.AI. In addition to financial support, ZF will also develop software solutions based on the Meta operating system Apex.OS.

“Based on Apex.OS, we can offer our customers an additional option with ZF Middleware,” says Nico Hartmann, Head of the ZF Global Software Center.

 ZF Middleware is an open software platform that acts as an "intermediary" between a vehicle computer's operating system and its software applications. On this middleware, the actual software functions, such as autonomous driving functions, can then be built.