LiDAR Excitement Fuels $17M Funding Round for SiLC

“SiLC’s approach is the only viable one for the large-scale adoption needed to advance the state of robotics, autonomous vehicles, biometrics, security, and more.” – Daniel Docter, Managing Director, Dell Technologies Capital

SiLC Technologies, Inc., a Silicon Valley startup specializing in LiDAR technology for computer vision, has raised $17 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Alter Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital, and featured contributions from Fluxunit – OSRAM Ventures, UMC Capital, Epson, Sony Innovation Fund by IGV, Yamato Holdings and Global Brain.

The company has drummed up considerable investor excitement thanks to its 4D+ Vision Chip for LiDAR, a three-dimensional imaging technology based on the emission of laser beams and the measurement of the refraction of their light. SiLC says its technology is notable for its smaller footprint compared to other LiDAR chips, and for its incorporation of vector measurements – innovations that have helped to drive investor interest.

“SiLC has differentiated itself by being the only company to date that has successfully integrated an FMCW imaging system on a cost-effective silicon platform, giving them huge potential in the large, fast-growing imaging market,” explained Dell Technologies Capital managing director Daniel Docter. “SiLC’s approach is the only viable one for the large-scale adoption needed to advance the state of robotics, autonomous vehicles, biometrics, security, and more.”

SiLC was founded in 2018, and has now acquired numerous patents for its FMCW 4D imaging chip, as well as a proprietary process for the large-scale manufacturing of optical components. Over the past year, it has begun to serve the market, offering development systems to customers in the areas of mobility, Augmented Reality, robotics, and machine vision. Its 4D+ Vision Chip, according to a statement from the company, is now “production-ready”.

“Our 4D+ vision sensors provide critical additional data and cues needed for efficient machine image processing and visual cognition much like the human eye does to the brain,” asserted SiLC CEO and founder Mehdi Asghari. “The quality of investors we have attracted underscores the transformative potential of SiLC’s unique technology.”

The development offers the latest signal of VC excitement over LiDAR technology, with another LiDAR startup, Ouster, having raised $42 million in a Series B funding round last summer.

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(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)