AI-driven vehicle inspection startup UVeye raises $191 mln in equity, debt
Jan 29 (Reuters) - UVeye, a startup that uses AI-driven technology to inspect vehicles to avoid defects and target repairs, said on Wednesday it has raised $191 million in debt and equity to scale up production in North America and Europe.
The company's $41 million funding round was led by Woven Capital, the investment arm of Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab and its $150 million debt facility was structured by asset management firm Trinity Capital.
The latest funding brings UVeye's total capital raised to $380.5 million.
UVeye, based in Teaneck, New Jersey, runs what it calls an "MRI for vehicles," using external scanners that inspect underneath and all around vehicles, records the engine sound, plus runs on-board diagnostics in seconds for automakers, new and used dealers, including CarMax (KMX.N), opens new tab, car auction houses and insurance companies.
The same manual inspections for defects or repairs take on average 20 to 30 minutes and do not deliver the same consistent results as the artificial intelligence-backed technology used by UVeye, CEO Amir Hever told Reuters.
"When someone works a shift of eight to ten hours, they can't inspect every vehicle the same way, I mean you just get tired," Hever said. "Our system simply doesn't get tired."
Hever said UVeye's solution detects 96% of vehicle issues compared with 24% in manual service checks.
Uveye's AI technology learns to look for problems or defects that are specific to different car models and brands, Hever said.
The company has been installing its scanners at Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab distribution centres in the United States that check every vehicle when it returns from its delivery route.
"If there are any safety issues, we ground the vehicle until they fix it," Hever said.
Most of UVeye's business so far has been in the U.S. market, but the company plans significant expansion in Europe and should also expand into Japan in 2026, Hever added.
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