Cepton Technologies, a US-based lidar technology developer backed by car lighting equipment provider Koito Manufacturing, has agreed a reverse takeover with special purpose acquisition company Growth Capital Acquisition Corp (GCAC).
The combined company will take the spot on the Nasdaq Capital Market held by GCAC, which is sponsored by Growth Capital Sponsor, an affiliate of investment banking firm Maxim Group. It was secured through a $150m initial public offering in January this year.
The transaction includes a $58.5m private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing featuring $50m from Koito, valuing the merged business at roughly $1.8bn.
Founded in 2016, Cepton has built lidar sensors designed for use in areas including autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (adas) and smart cities.
Koito had already provided $50m to lead a series C round of undisclosed size for Cepton in February 2020 that helped boost its total funding to nearly $100m. Unspecified returning backers filled out the participants in the round.
Details of the company’s earlier funding have not been disclosed, but GRC Sinogreen Fund is also among its existing shareholders.
Takayuki Katsuda, director and managing corporate officer at Koito, said: “We have begun developing products to satisfy customer needs through joint development and investment with Cepton, which possesses advanced lidar technologies for adas and autonomous driving.
“To help achieve our plan to begin volume production in 2023, we intend to further strengthen our relationship with Cepton through this additional investment.”
