Opsys Tech, an Israeli auto lidar startup, has won US $36.5 million in new financing

A few days ago, Opsys Tech, an Israeli auto lidar startup, announced that the company had received another US $36.5 million in the latest round of venture financing. This additional fund will make the total amount of its round C financing reach 51.5 million US dollars, which will be used to increase the output of its solid-state platform commercial equipment for laser radar sensor solutions.

Investors participating in the latest round of financing of Opsys Tech include 83North, Osage University Partners, Translink Capital and Saban Ventures.

The company claims that it has developed a laser radar sensor with high performance, reliability, low cost and other characteristics, which can meet the requirements of all users without moving parts.

Opsys Tech's VCSEL array lidar (photo source: Opsys Tech)

Opsys Tech also said that its sensors have a detection range of 300 meters at 10% object reflectivity. These sensors are based on vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) arrays and single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detectors operating at 850-980 nm. Opsys technology achieves four times the range of the flash lidar, while exceeding the resolution and scanning speed of the flash lidar. Other lidar technologies either have long distance, high resolution, or fast scanning rate, but it is impossible to realize these three functions simultaneously under all conditions.

When commenting on the latest round of financing, Gertel, co-founder and executive chairman of Opsys Tech, said: "We are satisfied with our unique technical validation and the commercialization progress we have demonstrated. The customer feedback on the best overall performance of our sensors is incredible, and our customer participation has never been so high."

Gertel believes that solid state sensors can meet all vehicle reliability requirements and performance specifications required by advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automatic driving at all levels. He added: "With the end of this round of financing, we can complete all the production of the real solid-state scanning lidar production line, and we look forward to providing customers with a large number of lidar sensors."

Opsys Tech is striving to expand its business to a wider range of countries and regions around the world, and strive to become a major supplier of laser radar systems in the automotive market. In addition to its Israeli headquarters, Opsys Tech currently has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company will open a new office in China in the first quarter of 2022 and start production in Thailand at the end of that quarter. Opsys Tech also strives to sign more supplier agreements in the first half of 2022 to expand its market in Europe.

This week, Opsys also participated in the 2023 CES Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and took the opportunity to announce the update of the agreement with Hasco, a Chinese auto parts supplier. Last year, the company reached agreements with major auto parts suppliers, including Hasco in China and SL Corporation in South Korea. With the latest progress in cooperation with Hasco, it is expected that this Chinese company will produce Opsys lidar equipment in China and plan to start large-scale production in 2024.

Gertel previously served as the former CEO of Finisar, a large VCSEL manufacturer. Rafi Harel, the CEO of Finisar Israel, said to the transaction: "This major milestone marks our entry into the mass production market of automotive laser radar systems in Asia. The use of Opsys laser radar technology will improve the safety of vehicles on the road, and at the same time enable the development of automatic driving functions at all levels, including L5."

Source: OFweek Laser Network