Canadian based Magna, the world's largest car parts manufacturer, has announced that it is joining the current financing round of Israeli car sensor developer Innoviz Technologies with a strategic investment. Kfar Saba based Innoviz is developing laser (light detection and ranging) LiDAR remote sensing solutions for autonomous cars.
Magna's announcement follows a similar one last week by its rival British tier-1 car parts supplier Delphi Automotive. Neither Magna nor Delphi disclosed the amount of their investment but market sources believe that Innoviz is raising tens of millions of dollars in this financing round at a company value of hundreds of millions of dollars. Quanergy, one of Innoviz's rivals, is worth more than $1 billion.
Innoviz was founded in 2015 by CEO Omer David Keilaf, chief business officer Oren Rosenzweig, CTO Amit Steinberg, VP R&D Oren Buskila and chairman Zohar Zisapel. The company raised $9 million in August 2016. Investors include Zisapel, Vertex, Magma and Amiti Ventures, as well as Gil Agmon and Delek Motors.
Innoviz's solid-state LiDAR can provide high-definition, 3D, real-time images of the vehicle's surroundings regardless of changing light and weather conditions. It can be easily integrated into any vehicle at significantly reduced cost compared to commercially available LiDAR technologies with comparable performance.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 30, 2017
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