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Applied Intuition

appliedintuition.comadded 2026-09-02
The valuation doubling has a catch: roughly two-thirds of the $600M Series F was secondary (existing shareholders cashing out), not new capital into the company● Hiring↗ Employee liquidity on record

Worth-Joining Index · Scorecard

v2.1 ALPHA · 2026-08

Career Score

74/100

Coverage

79%

Verified

11%

Stage cohort

Late

Vibe Check

🎪 community voting coming soon

Momentum
11.3/16
Efficiency
4.8/6
Backing
5/5
Market
7.7/11
Product
8.8/11
Upside
10.7/16

Latest valuation

$15B (Series F, 2025-06)

Series F · 2025-06

ARR

~$830M ARR

自动驾驶软件物理AI国防科技Founded · 2017Stage · Growth (Series F)HQ · Sunnyvale, CA

Traction · Key numbers

ARR~$830M ARR (2025 est.)Third-party estimate, not company-disclosed~ 3rd-party estimateas of 2025-12
ARR增长2x YoY (2024 $415M -> 2025 $830M est.)Third-party estimate, not company-disclosed~ 3rd-party estimateas of 2025-12
Customer base18 of the top 20 global automakers, plus multiple U.S. DoD programs Company-claimedas of 2025-06
Valuation paceValuation rose from $6B (Mar 2024) to $15B (Jun 2025) in ~15 months Publicly verifiableas of 2025-06

Funding

Rounds

2

Valuation pace

$6B

F

$600M

Series F · 2025-06 · valuation $15B post (Series F, 2025-06) · led by BlackRock-managed funds, Kleiner Perkins

With: Franklin Templeton, Qatar Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Premji Invest, Stripes · About $200M primary funding, plus roughly $400M in secondary share sales

E

$250M

Series E · 2024-03 · valuation $6B post · led by Lux Capital, Elad Gil, Porsche Investments Management

With: Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, BOND, Human Capital · Existing investors doubled down; Porsche joined as a strategic investor

The valuation doubling has a catch: roughly two-thirds of the $600M Series F was secondary (existing shareholders cashing out), not new capital into the company

ARR doubling ($415M → $830M) is genuinely strong, but customer concentration in a handful of automakers and defense programs raises renewal/leverage risk

BlackRock and Kleiner Perkins leading is not a typical early-stage VC move — reads more like late-stage capital positioning ahead of an IPO

Founders

Qasar Younis CEO

Former COO of Y Combinator; previously an automotive engineer at General Motors and Bosch

Peter Ludwig CTO

Former Google engineer who worked on Google Maps and Android Automotive

Reality · Working here

H1B / PERMUnknown
Remote policyUnknown
Comp modelUnknown
GlassdoorUnknown — work here? Help us fill this in →
Equity liquiditySeries F round ($600M, June 2025) included a tender offer / secondary component (~$400M secondary) alongside primary fundingCompany's own press release; secondary breakdown (~$400M) per Cresco Capital coverage Publicly verifiableas of 2025-06
Hiring statusCareers page lists 300+ open roles across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific; team includes 1,000 engineers Company-claimedas of 2026-09

Signals & Risks

Customers通用汽车 General Motors美国国防部相关项目 U.S. DoD programs保时捷 Porsche
CompetitorsWaabiAurora InnovationForetellix
ValuationValuation tripled to $15B in about 15 months, and roughly two-thirds of the latest round was secondary sales rather than new capital — a sign of possible overvaluation and insider exits
Customer concentrationHeavy reliance on a small number of large automaker and defense contracts means losing one major customer would hurt significantly
CompetitionMore players are entering AV simulation and vehicle software, and automakers building in-house capability could squeeze third-party vendors

Editorial ✎

Good fit for

· Engineers who want to build autonomy/robotics simulation and tooling — the company sits on the industry's densest set of real automaker data and scenarios

· Enterprise sales/commercial people who can handle long automaker/defense procurement cycles

· Job seekers who want stable, proven revenue plus exposure to the physical-AI narrative

Not for

· Those chasing early-stage equity upside — the company is late-stage and richly valued, so option upside is comparatively limited

· Anyone uncomfortable with defense/military customers or the ethics of tech-defense collaboration

Ask in the interview

1. Two-thirds of the Series F was secondary sales — how does the company respond to the market reading this as insiders cashing out early?

2. With 18 of 20 top automakers as customers, are OEMs' growing in-house simulation capabilities already pressuring renewal terms and pricing?

3. Of the ~$830M ARR, roughly what share comes from defense contracts vs. commercial automaker deals, and how is that concentration risk managed?

Data changelog

Community corrections → editorial review → applied, fully on the record

2026-09-02
收入增速 filled in as 2x YoY (2024 $415M -> 2025 $830M est.)

data as of 2025-12 · Source: Sacra estimate

~ 3rd-party estimate
2026-09-02
ARR / 年化收入 filled in as ~$830M ARR (2025 est.)

data as of 2025-12 · Source: Sacra estimate

~ 3rd-party estimate
2026-09-02
股权流动性 / tender 记录 filled in as Series F round ($600M, June 2025) included a tender offer / secondary component (~$400M secondary) alongside primary funding

data as of 2025-06 · Source: Applied Intuition press release

Publicly verifiable
2026-09-02
最近一轮领投机构 filled in as BlackRock-managed funds、Kleiner Perkins

data as of 2025-06 · Source: Applied Intuition press release

Publicly verifiable
2026-09-02
最近一轮估值 filled in as $15B post (Series F, 2025-06)

data as of 2025-06 · Source: Applied Intuition press release

Publicly verifiable
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