Fredericton-based Potential Motors, which developed next-generation controls for electric off-road vehicles, has sold its core technology and intellectual property to “a leading global manufacturer”.

Founder and CEO Sam Poirier posted on LinkedIn over the weekend that the deal has taken place, though no other details were immediately available.

“Our journey began with converting vehicles to electric, evolved into launching our own off-road EV, and culminated in the development of our proprietary Terrain Intelligence technology,” wrote Poirier. “Building Potential has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life. I am incredibly grateful that our innovations are landing with a partner capable of deploying them at scale.”

The Potential Motors team set out in 2018 to convert conventional internal-combustion vehicles into those powered by electricity. Before long, it pivoted to install sensors in electric vehicles and develop software that could react to specific conditions to improve performance and safety. The company’s technology combined computer vision, AI models and software engineering so vehicles could assess the terrain and conditions and automatically take the needed actions.

Three years ago, the company unveiled its own off-road EV, which it had planned to sell.

Along the way, the team attracted impressive backers. Its advisers included two co-founders of the iconic New Brunswick tech company Radian6, Marcel LeBrun and Chris Newton. As well as regional funds like New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and Build Ventures, its investors included TIME Ventures, the personal investment fund of Salesforce founder Marc Benioff.

 A year ago, Poirier was named to Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 list. For the past year, he has been helping out at UNB’s J. Herbert Smith Centre for Technology, Management and Entrepreneurship as an entrepreneur-in-residence.

As for his own future, Poirier said in his post: “I am going to take a breath and start thinking about the next challenge.”