Derq Secures $1.5M in Seed Funding to Eliminate Road Accidents and Save Lives
Signs Memorandum of Understanding in Dubai with Smart Dubai Office, Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – October 19, 2017 – Derq, the company developing innovative technologies that will help eliminate road accidents and save lives, today announced they have secured $1.5 million in seed funding to grow their team in Dubai, open a U.S. office in Detroit and further develop their proprietary technology.
The CDC recently reported that an estimated 1.25 million people die from road accidents, around the world, every year. This amounts to an average of 3,400 deaths every day, due in large part to accidents that can be prevented. An MIT-spinoff company and recent graduate of the Techstars Mobility program in Detroit, Derq is out to change this.
The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Smart Dubai Office, Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority to implement Derq’s technology in Dubai’s Silicon Oasis’s roads and other areas including tram crossings. The MoU outlines a set of concise objectives, including demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of connected vehicle technologies for road safety on conventional and autonomous vehicles in Dubai, implementing and developing innovative AI solutions for collision prediction and prevention in the emirate, mining and analysing Big Data for road safety applications and other smart mobility solutions, and working together to improve and share knowledge and understanding in all four participating entities.
“Dubai is at the forefront of adopting innovative technologies that focus on improving road safety and autonomous vehicle deployments. We’re honored to be working with Smart Dubai Office, Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority to implement Derq’s road safety technology in Dubai’s Silicon Oasis and other areas of Dubai,” said Dr. Georges Aoude, CEO for Derq. “While headquartered in Dubai, we recently graduated from Techstars Mobility in Detroit, and felt it was important to open an office in Detroit - the epicenter of mobility innovation in the U.S. Our recent seed round will help Derq establish a team in Detroit, grow our team in Dubai and continue developing our technology.”
Derq was co-founded by Dr. Georges Aoude (CEO), Dr. Amer Abufadel (CTO) and Karl Jeanbart, P.Eng. (COO) in 2016. To learn more about Derq, visit: www.derq.com.
About Derq
Derq is on a mission to eliminate road accidents and save lives by using artificial intelligence and V2X technology. Through its proprietary technology Derq can predict and prevent car accidents for both conventional and autonomous vehicles leveraging smart cities and connected vehicles ecosystem. An MIT-spinoff company and Techstars Mobility graduate, Derq was founded in 2016. The company is headquartered in Dubai with offices in Detroit. To learn more, visit: www.derq.com.