World model maker Odyssey nabs $1.45B valuation backed by Amazon and other big names
AI startup Odyssey, which builds world models, has raised a $310 million Series B at a $1.45 billion valuation. The round was led by Natural Capital with participation from Amazon, AMD Ventures, and others.
Odyssey, a startup founded in 2023 by self-driving vehicle pioneers Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has closed a $310 million Series B funding round at a $1.45 billion valuation. The round was led by Natural Capital, with participation from Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, and other investors.
The company specializes in world models, the next frontier in AI beyond text-based large language models. These models gather data from the physical world and simulate it with accurate physics. In Odyssey's case, it has mimicked Google Earth's approach by sending people out with cameras strapped to their backs to capture real-world data. The startup is known for producing rich, interactive video from text prompts, with applications ranging from video game creation to robotics.
The founders' backgrounds are deeply rooted in autonomous vehicles. Cameron was co-founder and CEO of Voyage, an autonomous vehicle startup acquired by GM's Cruise, where he later served as VP of product. Hawke was an engineer at U.K.-based self-driving startup Wayve.
With the backing from Amazon, AWS has become Odyssey's preferred cloud provider, and the startup will optimize its models to run on AWS's Trainium chips, which compete with Nvidia's AI processors. In addition to venture capital investors, Odyssey has secured an impressive list of angel investors, including Jeff Dean, Elad Gil, Garry Tan, Guillermo Rauch, and Cruise founder Kyle Vogt. To date, the company has raised a total of $337 million.
