The world models AI lab lands a massive Series B as investors bet that simulation-based AI is the next frontier beyond large language models
Odyssey, an AI lab building what the industry calls “world models,” has raised $310 million in a Series B funding round that values the company at $1.45 billion post-money. The round was led by Natural Capital, with Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, EQT, and In-Q-Tel all participating.
World models are AI systems designed to simulate and predict complex physical environments. The applications span robotics, gaming, autonomous vehicles, and any domain where an AI needs to understand how the physical world behaves rather than just describe it. Odyssey’s product lineup includes models called Odyssey-2, Starchild-1, and Agora-1, all aimed at delivering interactive, physics-accurate simulations.
Amazon’s involvement goes well beyond writing a check. The two companies have formed a strategic partnership that makes AWS Odyssey’s preferred cloud provider and integrates Odyssey’s models with Amazon’s Trainium AI accelerator technology.
The Series B, announced on June 17, 2026, comes just months after a Series A round completed in February 2026. That earlier round featured backing from NVentures, Nvidia’s venture capital arm.
Odyssey was co-founded by CEO Oliver Cameron and CTO Jeff Hawke, both of whom come from the autonomous driving sector.
The investor roster includes In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the US intelligence community, and AMD Ventures from the semiconductor side, alongside GV and EQT.
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