After Mobileye Sold, Founder Aims to Make Orcam Public

Recently acquired Mobileye may be comfortable with the $15 billion price tag, but the founder is not sitting still. Israeli entrepreneur Amnon Shashua is already making his next plans – this time aiming to make public his other venture OrCam.

The first prototype was released back in 2013, OrCam uses a camera mounted on eyeglass frames to help the visually impaired interact with their surroundings. OrCam’s system can read newspapers, street signs and recognise common items, dictating words into the user’s ear. According to a Reuters report, the company completed a $41 million investment funding round last month that values the company at $600 million.

Shashua’s Mobileye was acquired by Intel earlier this March, and the autonomous driving technology company relies on camera-based sensor chips and software systems to help develop self-driving cars. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year, and sees Intel’s Automated Driving Group being integrated into Mobileye and based in Israel.

Intel has also invested $6 million dollars in OrCam.

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