A new crop of early-stage startups — along with some recent VC investments — illustrates a niche emerging in the autonomous vehicle technology sector. Unlike the companies bringing robotaxis to city streets, these startups are taking their tech off-road. Two recent entrants — Seattle-based Overland AI and New Brunswick-based Potential — are poised to get a first-mover advantage on this segment of autonomy. While these startups are applying their tech in different ways, Overland AI and Potential do share some common off-road ground. Founders of each startup believe they’ve cracked the code to one of the more challenging applications of automated driving by building software that doesn’t rely on some of the main crutches of testing and deployment — such as detailed maps, large swaths of training data and the ability to fall back on remote assistance. The U.S. Department of Defense and venture capital investors are taking notice. Overland AI, which is developing a self-driving system designed for military operations like reconnaissance, surveillance and delivering electronic warfare packages, was awarded in April up to $18.6 million from the U.S. Army’s Defense Innovation Unit. The funds will be used to build a prototype autonomous software stack for its Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program over the next two years. The startup, which was founded in 2022, raised this week a $10 million seed round led by Point72 Ventures

Potential Motors has raised an additional CA$2M, bringing its total funding to CA$8.5M since May 2020, to advance the commercialization of its AI technology in automotive sectors like powersports and defense. The funding will support projects including a new pilot in Q2 and ongoing partnerships with major automotive brands. Their Terrain Intelligence system uses sensors to enhance vehicle control by anticipating terrain challenges.