Technology investment firm Sylebra Capital agreed yesterday to invest $200m in Aeva, the US-based lidar technology developer that counts automotive manufacturer Porsche and aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin among its investors.
The agreement comes two months after Aeva agreed to execute a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. The investment by Sylebra, an InterPrivate shareholder, will close once the deal goes through.
Aeva is developing frequency modulated continuous wave technology for use in lidar systems that detect objects as part of autonomous driving systems. It has partnerships with some 30 carmakers and original equipment manufacturers in the automotive industry.
The reverse merger was set to value the combined company, which will list on the New York Stock Exchange, at $2.1bn once it closed. It will receive $243m held in trust by InterPrivate and $120m in financing from existing Aeva investors such as Porsche and August Capital.
The company had raised $48.5m from investors including Lux Capital and Canaan before Porsche added an undisclosed amount of funding in late 2019. It has also named Lockheed Martin and Socii Capital as investors.
Soroush Salehian, Aeva’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “This investment by Sylebra provides a major vote of confidence in Aeva’s business model and growth plans.
“Proceeds from this investment will further accelerate our ability to capitalise on customer demand for Aeva’s industry-leading 4D lidar on a chip technology in the automotive, consumer and industrial markets.”
