Hayden AI Secures $90 Million in Series C Funding

Hayden AI, a company specializing in vision-based AI technologies for smart cities, has secured $90 million in Series C funding. The investment round was led by TPG’s The Rise Fund with participation from existing investors including the Drawdown Fund and Autotech Ventures.

With this close, Hayden has now raised significant funding across multiple rounds including a $20 million Series A round led by Autotech Ventures in April 2021 and a $53 million Series B round led by the Drawdown Fund in October 2023.

Hayden AI’s platform uses geospatial data collection sensor systems to provide comprehensive smart city intelligence. The company’s products and services include automated enforcement of bus lanes and bus stops, traffic congestion detection and prediction, and city asset monitoring.

Smart cities utilize a network of interconnected devices, sensors, and systems—often referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT)—to collect and analyze vast amounts of data in real-time. This data is then used to optimize various city functions and services, such as transportation, energy management, waste disposal, public safety, and healthcare.

The smart city market, in which Hayden AI operates, is projected to grow significantly. According to recent projections, the global smart city market size was valued at nearly $750 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 14% in the coming years. This growth is driven by increasing urbanization, the need for efficient resource management, and advancements in technologies such as AI, IoT, and 5G. Key areas of development include intelligent transportation systems, energy management, public safety, and sustainable urban planning.

“With The Rise Fund, we can develop our platform into a true urban operating system – processing data and generating actionable insights that help cities become more livable for everyone,” said Chris Carson, a founder and CEO of Hayden AI. “This new financing lets us invest in long-term technology development to explore new applications for our platform. TPG’s The Rise Fund has a long track record of successfully scaling socially impactful companies across the technology and climate sectors and we are thrilled to partner with them to continue to empower cities to transform sustainability, road safety, and accessibility.”

Hayden AI primarily serves transit agencies and city governments and is used by New York’s MTA, Washington DC’s Metro, and Los Angeles Metro, to detect and enforce parking and moving violations that obstruct public transportation and road safety. The company’s platform can be mounted on various vehicle types, offering cities valuable insights to make informed decisions about operational and sustainability goals. Beyond enforcement, Hayden AI’s technology can detect and predict traffic congestion, monitor city assets, and optimize transportation networks.

In New York City, the implementation of automated camera enforcement has resulted in 5% faster buses along enforced routes and 20% fewer vehicle collisions. The MTA estimates that this technology has contributed to a 5-10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Large cities have a dual mandate of increasing operational performance and safety of their public transit systems while improving their energy efficiency,” said Steve Ellis, a managing partner of The Rise Funds. “Hayden AI’s proprietary technology offers a solution that sits at the intersection of accessibility, safety, and sustainability and is well aligned with The Rise Fund’s pursuit of rapidly growing businesses that deliver social and environmental impact at scale. Leveraging Hayden AI’s industry-leading accuracy and adaptability, we look forward to building on their success with the largest US cities to scale their technology into additional use-cases and new cities domestically and internationally.”

The Rise Fund is part of TPG Rise, TPG’s impact investing platform that was founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with singer and songwriter Paul Hewson (aka Bono) and billionaire internet entrepreneur Jeff Skoll. Today, TPG Rise has approximately $19 billion in assets across The Rise Funds, TPG Rise Climate, and the Evercare Health Fund. TPG Rise is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and invests in opportunities across climate and conservation, education, food and agriculture, financial inclusion, healthcare, and impact services.