Software developer Yaak receives 7.3 million euros

The Berlin-based start-up combines VR technology and machine learning to develop better driving lessons and autonomous cars. Now investors from Finland are getting on board.

The Berlin-based software developer Yaak has raised 7.3 million euros in a recent financing round. The capital comes from Maki.vc and First Fellow Partners. Both investors are from Finland. The start-up intends to use the new capital to further develop its own vehicle fleet and the SafetyOS safety platform.

Martin Zielinski, Harsimrat Singh Sandhawalia and Søren Halskov Nissen founded the start-up in 2019. The driver coaching platform SafetyOS is designed to improve human driving behavior and provide data to enable autonomous driving in the future. With SafetyOS, learner drivers can train with the help of virtual reality.

While the learner drivers learn to drive in the vehicle-integrated virtual reality simulator, Yaak collects information about driving errors and decisions in critical situations. The start-up wants to use this data to prepare and test an autonomous driving AI. To this end, the founders want to cooperate with driving schools worldwide and equip them with electric cars in which Yaak's hardware is integrated. The use of VR simulators should enable driving schools to supervise more students and offer students the opportunity to take independent driving lessons.