# Nikhil Naikal

> Nikhil Naikal is the CEO and co-founder of Kinetic, the automotive infrastructure startup using AI, computer vision, and robotics to automate the calibration and digital repair of modern vehicles. A roboticist with a PhD from UC Berkeley and an MS from Carnegie Mellon — where he was part of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge-winning Tartan Racing team — Naikal previously founded Mapper.ai (acquired by Velodyne Lidar) and engineered AR software at Flyby Media (acquired by Apple). At Kinetic, he is building a national network of high-throughput digital repair hubs that slash ADAS calibration time from hours to under 15 minutes, backed by $31M in total funding including a $21M Series B led by Menlo Ventures.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at Kinetic
- **Organizations:** Kinetic, Mapper.ai, Velodyne Lidar, Flyby Media, Bosch
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** MS in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University - Robotics Institute, PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Part of CMU Tartan Racing team that won the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, Founded Mapper.ai, acquired by Velodyne Lidar, Engineered at Flyby Media, acquired by Apple

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Part of CMU's Tartan Racing team that won the DARPA Urban Challenge
- **2013** — Joined Flyby Media as Computer Vision Engineer
- **2015** — Flyby Media acquired by Apple; continued at Apple
- **2016** — Founded Mapper.ai, a provider of HD machine-readable maps for autonomous vehicles
- **2019** — Mapper.ai acquired by Velodyne Lidar
- **2019** — Joined Velodyne Lidar as VP of Software Engineering
- **2021** — Co-founded Kinetic (with Sander Marques and Chris Weber) in June 2021
- **2022** — Kinetic raised seed round via SHAKTI fund
- **2023** — Kinetic raised $10M Series A led by Construct Capital and Lux Capital
- **2024** — Kinetic raised $21M Series B led by Menlo Ventures; expanded to 6 locations across CA, NV, UT
- **2025** — Kinetic partnered with Chilton Auto Body for San Francisco Bay Area Digital Repair Hub

## Achievements

- Part of CMU Tartan Racing team that won the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge
- Founded Mapper.ai, acquired by Velodyne Lidar
- Engineered at Flyby Media, acquired by Apple
- Raised $31M in total funding for Kinetic
- Published 9+ academic papers with 603+ citations (h-index: 9)
- Holds patents related to lidar technology, sensor calibration, and structured mapping
- Scaled Kinetic to 6 digital repair hubs across three US states
- Reduced ADAS calibration time from hours to under 15 minutes

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Kinetic partnered with Chilton Auto Body to launch a new 10,000 sq ft Digital Repair Hub in San Carlos in the San Francisco Bay Area
- **2025-05** — Nikhil Naikal gave an in-depth interview to CollisionWeek on scaling Kinetic's model and vision
- **2024-06** — Kinetic raised $21M Series B led by Menlo Ventures with strategic backing from Allstate and Liberty Mutual
- **2024-06** — CNBC covered Kinetic's robotic repair technology and Naikal's vision for autonomous vehicle maintenance
- **2024-06** — Kinetic operating 4 service hubs in CA and NV with plans for rapid expansion

## Links

- Website: https://kinetic.auto
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nnaikal
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kineticauto_

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nikhil-naikal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-11