Helm.ai Valuation, Funding & Investors

Helm.ai is valued at $431M as of December 2022.

Last Helm.ai valuation

$431M

Series C · Dec 2022

Last Helm.ai funding round

Strategic investment

Amount undisclosed · May 2026

Cumulative funding Helm.ai raised

$155M

across 6 funding rounds

Key investors in Helm.ai

  • Amplo
  • Honda Motor
  • ACVC Partners
  • Goodyear Ventures
  • Sungwoo Hitech
  • Freeman Group

Helm.ai Overview

About Helm.ai

Helm.ai is a Redwood City, California-headquartered AI software developer founded in 2016, focusing on ADAS, autonomous driving, and robotics. Its Deep Teaching platform trains neural networks without labeled data, powering perception for highway and urban scenarios. Helm.ai collaborates with Toyota, Honda, and NVIDIA on production vehicles, deploying models on NVIDIA Drive platforms across 10 million simulated miles.


Founded

2016

HQ

United StatesSan Francisco, CA

Website

helm.ai

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Licensing

Valuation

$431M (Dec 2022)

Helm.ai Valuation

Helm.ai is currently valued at $431M, based on its Series C in December 2022.

The $31M round was led by Freeman Group, with participation from ACVC Partners, Amplo, Sungwoo Hitech, Honda Motor and Goodyear Ventures.

Helm.ai valuation by funding round

Helm.ai valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
Dec 2022Series C$431M

Helm.ai Funding History

Helm.ai has raised a total of $155M across 6 funding rounds.

Helm.ai's first fundraising round was a $13M seed round in March 2020. The most recent completed round was a strategic investment round in May 2026.

Helm.ai funding rounds

Helm.ai funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
May 2026Strategic investmentHonda Motor (lead)---
Aug 2023Series CFreeman Group (lead); ACVC Partners; Amplo; Sungwoo Hitech; Honda Motor; Goodyear Ventures$55M-Helm.ai develops next-generation AI software for autonomous driving and robotics automation, focusing on L2-L4 driver assist applications including perception, intent, planning, and control using unsupervised learning models. The company licenses its technology to OEMs and partners with Tier 1 suppliers, chip makers, and sensor companies, with notable collaborations including NVIDIA and Honda's Xcelerator program. Helm.ai, founded in 2016 by Vlad Voroninski and Tudor Achim, is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and competes in the autonomous vehicle software space with a vision-first, data-efficient approach. On August 16, 2023, Helm.ai raised $55 million in a Series C-II funding round led by Freeman Group, with participation from ACVC Partners, Amplo, Goodyear Ventures, Honda Motor, and Sungwoo Hitech. This brought total funding to approximately $125 million across seven rounds as of that date. The round supported ongoing product expansion and customer growth in ADAS and L4 autonomous solutions. Prior rounds included a December 19, 2022 Series C with a reported valuation of $431 million and total funding reaching around $101 million by early 2023. Earlier, a November 2021 Series B raised $26 million led by Amplo, highlighting revenue growth and commercial contracts that year despite industry challenges.
Dec 2022Series CFreeman Group (lead); ACVC Partners; Amplo; Sungwoo Hitech; Honda Motor; Goodyear Ventures$31M$431MHelm.ai, a Menlo Park, California-based startup founded in 2016 by Tudor Achim and Vlad Voroninski, develops next-generation AI software for autonomous driving, high-end ADAS, L4 autonomous systems, and robotics automation. The company employs a hardware-agnostic 'Deep Teaching' technology and unsupervised learning approach to deliver scalable AI solutions to OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, enabling software differentiation without reliance on extensive labeled data or sensors. On December 19, 2022, Helm.ai closed a $31 million Series C funding round led by Freeman Group, with participation from ACVC Partners, Amplo, and strategic investors Honda Motor Co., Goodyear Ventures, and Sungwoo Hitech. This round brought the company's total funding to $78 million across prior rounds including a $26 million raise one year earlier. The financing pushed Helm.ai's post-money valuation to $431 million, with Brandon Freeman joining the board of directors. Proceeds from the round are allocated to expanding the 50-person workforce, advancing R&D, productizing self-driving technologies, and strengthening commercial partnerships in automotive and robotics sectors. Helm.ai reports record adoption of its generalized AI stack, positioning it to grow its customer base among automakers seeking accelerated time-to-market for ADAS and L4 solutions. This investment marks Freeman Group's third backing of ventures led by CEO Vlad Voroninski, following their seed in Sift Security, acquired by Netskope in 2018. The funding underscores industry embrace of Helm.ai's breakthrough software amid competition in autonomous vehicle technology.
Feb 2022Series BMando Corporation (lead)$30M-Helm.ai develops AI software for autonomous driving and robotics using unsupervised Deep Teaching technology, targeting L2-L4 ADAS solutions for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers like Honda. In early 2022, the company announced a $30M Series B round, with Honda joining first, followed by Mando Corporation, a Korean automotive supplier specializing in xEV and autonomous driving systems. Mando's investment aimed to support Helm.ai's expansion in AI for safety-critical systems, hiring, and core offerings. Helm.ai had gained recognition at CES 2022 for its scalable autonomous driving approach. By December 2022, a separate Series C round valued the company at $431M, led by Freeman Group with participation from ACVC Partners, Amplo, Honda, Goodyear Ventures, and Sungwoo Hitech, bringing total funding to around $78M then. The company focused on commercializing technology, securing partnerships, and growing its 50-person team post-Series C. Subsequent rounds included a $55M Series C-II in August 2023, pushing total raised over $125M across seven rounds with 30 investors. Helm.ai continues licensing perception, planning, and control software.
Nov 2021Series BAmplo (lead)$26M-Helm.ai develops next-generation AI software for autonomous driving, focusing on high-end ADAS and L4 solutions using a vision-first unsupervised learning approach applicable to robotics and automation. On November 16, 2021, the company raised $26 million in a Series B funding round led by Amplo, with participation from JM Partners, Base Capital Funding, Freeman Group, and others including Nicolas Berggruen, ACVC Partners, OneWay Ventures, Binnacle Partners, Nadia Asoyan, Vlad Tenev, Mark Leslie, Jeff Rothschild, and Neil King. This brought total funding to $44 million at the time. The funds were intended to support team growth, serve a rapidly expanding customer base, and accelerate product expansion. The announcement highlighted Helm.ai's strong commercial traction, including its best year for revenue generation in 2021 despite COVID-related slowdowns in the automotive sector, commercial contracts with multiple OEMs, and partnerships with leading Tier 1 suppliers, chip makers, and sensor companies such as NVIDIA and Honda through their Xcelerator program. CEO Vlad Voroninski noted the funding would advance cutting-edge AI for self-driving cars and robotics automation, positioning the company to deliver market-leading ADAS and L4 solutions to OEMs and fleets while forming additional partnerships.
Mar 2020SeedLee Linden; Adam D’Angelo; Amplo; Fontinalis Partners; David Petraeus; Navneet Dalal; Charlie Cheever; Binnacle Partners; Nicolas Berggruen; One Way Ventures; A.Capital Ventures; Kevin Durant$13M-Helm.ai raised $13 million in a seed funding round announced on March 25, 2020, with investors including A.Capital Ventures, Amplo, Binnacle Partners, Fontinalis Partners, Sound Ventures, SV Angel, and angels such as Adam D’Angelo, Charlie Cheever, Kevin Durant, David Petraeus, Lee Linden, Navneet Dalal, and Nicolas Berggruen. The company, co-founded in 2016 by Vlad Voroninski and Tudor Achim, develops AI software using an unsupervised learning approach called Deep Teaching to process raw sensor data for autonomous vehicles, targeting Level 2+ advanced driver assistance systems and Level 4 fleets. The funding supports advanced engineering, R&D, hiring, and fulfilling customer deals, with the team at about 15 people and existing customers beyond pilot stages at the time.

Who has invested in Helm.ai?

18 investors have backed Helm.ai across its funding rounds, including Amplo, Honda Motor, ACVC Partners, Goodyear Ventures, Sungwoo Hitech and Freeman Group.

Lead investors include Honda Motor, Freeman Group, Mando Corporation and Amplo.


Helm.ai Investors

Investors in Helm.ai by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
AmploUnited StatesUnited States4LeadMar 2020
Honda MotorJapanTokyo3LeadDec 2022
ACVC PartnersUnited StatesUnited States2ParticipantDec 2022
Freeman GroupUnited StatesPhiladelphia, PA2LeadDec 2022
Sungwoo HitechSouth KoreaYangsan2ParticipantDec 2022
Goodyear VenturesUnited StatesAkron, OH2ParticipantDec 2022
Lee LindenUnited StatesNew York City, NY1ParticipantMar 2020
Adam D’AngeloUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantMar 2020
Fontinalis PartnersUnited StatesDetroit, MI1ParticipantMar 2020
David PetraeusUnited StatesNew York City, NY1ParticipantMar 2020
Navneet DalalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantMar 2020
Charlie CheeverUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantMar 2020
Binnacle PartnersUnited StatesDallas, TX1ParticipantMar 2020

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Helm.ai Competitors

Helm.ai competitors include listed companies like Kodiak AI and Cidi, and private ones like Deeproute, Roadstar.ai, StradVision and Prophesee.

Public and private companies comparable to Helm.ai
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
DeeprouteChinaShenzhenPrivate--$600M-
Roadstar.aiChinaShenzhenPrivate--$600M-
StradVisionSouth KoreaSeoulPrivate$32M-$279M8.7x
Kodiak AIUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$4M($577M)$768M98.7x
PropheseeFranceParisPrivate--$210M-
CidiChinaChinaPublicly listed$132M($155M)$1.3B5.0x

Helm.ai Public Comps

Helm.ai is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Winner Technology, Yidu Tech, DSC Holdings, People & Technology, Serve Robotics, Cerence, SaverOne, Swarmer, Volatus Aerospace and ZipRecruiter.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Winner Technology$46M($7M)9.0x-(60.9x)-
Yidu Tech$122M($4M)1.4x1.2x(45.0x)7.7x
DSC Holdings$101M($10M)3.3x-(34.3x)-
People & Technology$542M$77M1.2x1.2x8.8x11.5x
Serve Robotics$3M($104M)55.5x19.3x(1.4x)(1.0x)
Cerence$252M$8M1.7x1.4x52.9x6.2x
SaverOne$335K($9M)1041.3x-(37.0x)-
Swarmer$310K($8M)1023.2x101.7x(37.3x)(29.1x)

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Common questions about Helm.ai

When was Helm.ai founded?Helm.ai was founded in 2016.
Where is Helm.ai headquartered?Helm.ai is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States.
Is Helm.ai publicly listed?No, Helm.ai is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Helm.ai's valuation?Helm.ai was last valued at $431M in its Series C in December 2022.
How much funding has Helm.ai raised?Helm.ai has raised $155M across 6 funding rounds.
What was Helm.ai's last funding round?Helm.ai's last funding round was a strategic investment round in May 2026, led by Honda Motor.
Who are Helm.ai's investors?Helm.ai's investors include Amplo, Honda Motor, ACVC Partners, Freeman Group, Sungwoo Hitech, Goodyear Ventures, Lee Linden, Adam D’Angelo, Fontinalis Partners, David Petraeus and 8 others.
Which companies are comparable to Helm.ai?Companies comparable to Helm.ai include Deeproute, Roadstar.ai, StradVision, Kodiak AI, Prophesee and Cidi.

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