Israel-based remote sensor technology developer Innoviz Technologies boosted its series B round to $73m on Tuesday, securing funding from subsidiaries of consumer electronics producer Samsung and telecommunications and internet firm SoftBank.
Samsung Catalyst and SoftBank Ventures Korea provided $8m, adding to the initial $65m in series B funding Innoviz closed in September this year.
Founded in January 2016, Innoviz is working on light detection and ranging (lidar) technology that will help automotive vehicles sense each other as well as other surrounding objects. It claims its compact lidar device is more affordable than any other on the market.
Omer Keilaf, Innoviz’s co-founder and CEO, said: “With our lidar solutions moving into mass production and getting ready to begin shipping in early 2018, the backing from companies such as Samsung, SoftBank Ventures Korea and all the rest will enable us to scale our operations as we focus on not only lidar but the entire autonomous vehicle stack.”
The first $65m was provided by auto components suppliers Magna International and Delphi Automotive, vehicle distributor Delek Motors, internet company Naver, Vertex Ventures, 360 Capital Partners, Glory Ventures, Magma Venture Partners, Amiti Ventures and angel investor Zohar Zisapel.
JP Lee, managing director of SoftBank Ventures Korea, said: “Innoviz shares our passion for changing the world through innovative technologies.
“Lidar is a crucial technology for enabling autonomous vehicles to sense their surroundings, and Innoviz has proven that it is much farther ahead than other lidar developers in bringing powerful, dependable lidar to mass market.”
The round brought the total raised by Innoviz to $82m, and comes after it received $9m in an August 2016 series A round featuring Delek Motors, Vertex Ventures, Magma Venture Partners, Amiti Ventures and Zisapel.