Software developer Yaak receives 7.3 million euros

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

Berlin-based software developer Yaak raises €7.3 million in a recent funding round. The capital comes from Maki.vc and First Fellow Partners. Both backers are from Finland. With the new capital, the start-up wants to further develop its own vehicle fleet and the safety platform SafetyOS.

Martin Zielinski, Harsimrat Singh Sandhawalia and Søren Halskov Nissen founded the startup in 2019. The driver coaching platform SafetyOS aims to simultaneously improve human driving behavior and provide data to enable autonomous driving in the future. With SafetyOS, learner drivers can train using virtual reality.

While student drivers learn to drive in the vehicle-integrated virtual reality simulator, Yaak collects information about driving errors and decisions in critical situations. The startup wants to use this data to prepare and test autonomous driving AI. To do this, the founders want to cooperate with driving schools worldwide and equip them with e-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.