Innoviz Technologies Ltd. has raised $9 million in a Series A financing round. Investors included venture capital funds Vertex, Magma and Amiti Ventures, as well as Yitzhak Tshuva's Delek Investments and Properties Ltd. and Zohar Zisapel. Zisapel is the company's chairman and is described as a co-founder.
Innoviz is developing a sensor called Lidar sensor a laser sensor that performs a highly accurate scan of the car's surrounding and builds a detailed 3D image. The company's technology is called High Definition Solid State Lidar and, according to the company, enables a high level of performance and accuracy compared with current mechanical solutions.
This technology will serve as the basis for the entire sensing system required for autonomous driving. The company intends to play a significant part in developing the complete sensing system required for the autonomous car market, and to face further technological challenges, such as combining sensing systems with the development of computer vision tools, accurate 3D mapping and position location in space. The company is expected to present a product prototype towards the end of 2016.
"Autonomous cars will lead to a significant revolution in the car industry and many other industries," said Innoviz CEO and Co-founder Omer Keilaf in the company’s announcement. "Turning this vision into reality depends on being able to provide a technological solution that meets the system's high performance and safety demands, but at a price that will enable it to reach mass production. Due to the current gap in price and performance, there are attempts to provide an autonomous driving system that does not include complete sensing, which puts the passenger's life at risk."
"I am always looking to invest in companies that are capable of utilizing advanced technologies to solve a real market problem for their customers, and the lack of a quality Lidar at an affordable price level is definitely a significant problem for the autonomous car industry," Zisapel said.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 8, 2016
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