LIDAR company lands $60M

Ouster, one of a growing number of companies competing in the LIDAR market, has announced $60 million in new funding. The company also announced the opening of a manufacturing facility in San Francisco’s Mission District that will soon have the capacity to produce several thousand sensors a month.

LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. Like other LIDAR systems, Ouster’s technology beams a stream of laser pulses in a circular pattern and uses the photons that bounce back to create a three-dimensional map of the environment.

The technology is used in autonomous vehicle visioning systems, as well as industrial robotics, agriculture, mapping, defense and drones.

The startup now counts more than 400 customers.

“It’s amazing that just a year ago we could count the number of customers on one hand, and now over 400 engineering teams around the world are using Ouster’s sensors to build new industries and re-shape old ones,” said Ouster CEO Angus Pacala in a press release. “It’s humbling to know that this demand exists – it motivates us every day to deliver for our customers.”

The additional $60 million in equity and debt funding follows Ouster’s initial $27 million Series A capital raise in December 2017. The recent round includes investments from Runway Growth Capital and Silicon Valley Bank, as well as additional funding from Series A participants Cox Enterprises, Constellation Tech Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, Carthona and others.