Perciv AI: radar reimagined

“While radar sensors have a long history, they are often noisy and have low resolution. To come over this limitations sensors in automated vehicles can cost up to €200,000,” explains Balazs Szekeres, co-founder and Managing Director of Perciv AI. “There was a clear opportunity in making perception more reliable – and more affordable.”

CLASSROOM TO START-UP

Balazs and his co-founders, Srimannarayana Baratam and Andras Palffy, were young engineers who met during their studies in engineering and AI, where they saw the automotive industry’s pressing need for cost-reducing technologies.

Radar is a sensing technology that uses radio waves to detect the distance, speed and position of objects – even in poor visibility. Compared to expensive LiDAR systems, radar is cheaper to produce and works better in harsh weather. The drawback? Traditional radar lacked detail. “We knew radar had potential. But we had to clean up the signal. That’s what our AI does – it transforms raw radar data into something actionable”

Today, Perciv AI is building the world’s first AI-based radar perception platform dedicated to autonomy. It enables vehicles – be they cars, delivery robots or drones – to ‘see’ their surroundings using an intelligent, affordable and scalable sensor suite. Autonomous driving was the initial target, but the team quickly expanded their focus. “We began implementing our technology in other use cases – airports, smart traffic lights, industrial robotics. Anywhere a machine needs to understand its environment,” says Balazs.

In December 2024, Perciv AI raised €2.5 million in seed funding from Day One Capital Ventures and Keen Venture Partners – both backed by the EU through the EIF. “We could have opted to grow organically or go the VC route and go faster. We went for the accelerated growth path, with VC, jumping from seven or eight clients to 19 and from seven to 20 employees in under a year,” Balazs notes. “Funding made it possible to hire, deliver and grow.”

EXPANDING HORIZONS

Recently, Perciv AI has seen growing demand in the defence sector. “The war in Ukraine changed how we think,” says Balazs. “Our technology is dual-use. It can serve both civil and defence applications, and we want to contribute to a stronger Europe. There are huge gaps in how we tackle drone threats, for instance. We can help, for example, with the classification of incoming threats or collision avoidance.”

The company is now actively engaging with partners across sectors. “We’ve seen traditional defence companies begin to shift. But there’s also a new wave of defence-oriented startups. Collaboration is key – and the EU plays an important role here. Europe’s strength lies in its diversity. We’ve got the talent, the ideas and the structures to build something resilient together.”

Diversity is part of Perciv AI’s DNA. Their 20-person team includes talent from Belgium, Germany, India, the US and more. “That mix really helps us think differently. It’s one of Europe’s greatest advantages. The best ideas come from people who’ve seen the world from different angles, and are able to think outside the box.”

Asked what’s next, Balazs doesn’t hesitate. “Radar perception is just the beginning. The race is on – and we want to build the core technology that makes autonomy safe, scalable and accessible to everyone.”

Location: Delft, Netherlands

SME: Perciv AI

Sector: dual-use technologies

Number of employees: 20

Financing purpose: growth finance

EIF financing: COSME EFG