Innovusion Raises $64M Series B Led by Temasek - LiDAR News

Growing Investment in Lidar Technology

An increasing number of investors are directing capital towards lidar, a remote sensing technology employing laser light for precise distance measurement. This method has recently attracted significant attention from automotive manufacturers.

Despite past criticisms, notably from Elon Musk, largely due to previously high costs, lidar continues to gain traction.

Innovusion Secures Series B Funding

Innovusion, a lidar company established five years ago and currently supplying Nio, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, has successfully closed a Series B funding round, raising $64 million.

This new investment brings the startup’s total funding to over $100 million. While substantial, Innovusion operates in a competitive landscape alongside larger companies like Velodyne and Luminar, which have secured considerably more funding.

Investment Details

Temasek, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, spearheaded Innovusion’s latest financing round.

Additional investors included Bertelsmann Asia Investment Fund, Joy Capital, Nio Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, and F-Prime Capital.

Global Operations

Innovusion maintains its primary development teams in Sunnyvale, California, and Suzhou, China.

Suzhou, located near Shanghai, is also the base of operations for the autonomous driving technology company, Momenta.

CEO’s Perspective

Junwei Bao, co-founder and CEO of Innovusion, remains confident despite the presence of established industry leaders.

Prior to founding Innovusion, Bao oversaw sensor and onboard computing systems for autonomous driving at Baidu, and was involved in Baidu’s investment in Velodyne.

Critique of Existing Lidar Approaches

Bao expressed a critical view of Velodyne’s earlier design philosophy, stating, “They were designing things more like a college student designing in their labs.”

He noted that, until approximately five years ago, lidar was largely confined to niche applications within military, surveying, and mapping, serving a relatively small customer base.

Focus on Industrialization

“They were not thinking about industrialization, volume manufacturing, or roadmap extensibility,” Bao explained.

“They were a pioneer and we [Baidu] recognized their value… but we also knew their weakness.”

Velodyne’s Current Position

Currently, Velodyne is a $2.2 billion company supplying major automakers such as Toyota and Volkswagen.

The company also benefited from a significant capital infusion after becoming publicly traded through a SPAC merger last year.

Innovusion’s Strategy

Innovusion’s strategy centers on developing sensors that meet the needs of automakers for the next five years.

The startup prioritizes the use of “mature components” to facilitate rapid production scaling to 100,000 units annually.

Partnerships and Key Customers

Nio, a Chinese competitor to Tesla, is Innovusion’s primary customer, having invested through its corporate venture fund, Nio Capital.

For mass production of its automotive-grade lidar, Innovusion is collaborating with Joynext, a division of the Chinese auto component supplier, Joyson Electronics.

Market Focus

Currently, China represents Innovusion’s largest market.

The company anticipates shipping several thousand units this year for smart transportation and industrial applications.

Future Deliveries to Nio

Next year, Innovusion aims to deliver tens of thousands of units to Nio’s ET7 luxury sedan.

The ET7 boasts a scanning range of up to 500 meters and a 120-degree field of view.

Industry Trends in China

Similar collaborations between automakers and lidar suppliers are emerging in China as companies strive to achieve their autonomous driving objectives with the aid of lidar technology.

Xpeng, a competitor to Nio, recently launched a sedan utilizing lidar technology from Livox, a DJI-affiliated lidar manufacturer known for its affordability.

Pricing Strategy

Innovusion offers its lidars to automakers at approximately $1,000 per unit when purchased in volumes of 100,000.

“Adding a $1,000 upfront cost plus another couple thousand dollars for a car that’s selling for $30,000 or $50,000 is affordable,” Bao stated.

Future Plans

With the new funding, Innovusion intends to increase the production capacity of its automotive-grade lidar and dedicate more resources to research and development for smart cities and vehicles.

The company currently employs over 100 people and plans to expand its workforce to over 200 this year.