Innoviz, Samsung’s Harman Partner To Deliver LiDAR Sensor Tech To Car Makers

Innoviz Technologies, a leading Israel-based provider of solid-state LiDAR sensors and perception software, announced its newest strategic partnership this week with Harman International, a Samsung subsidiary that focuses on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets.

Harman will leverage Innoviz’s solutions and make them available to OEMs globally, while using the LiDAR software to enhance its existing ADAS and automated driving initiatives, Innoviz said in a statement.

This newly founded partnership, said Innoviz CEO and co-founder Omer Keilaf, “marks a significant milestone for Innoviz. HARMAN serves as a strategic gateway to OEMs pursuing ADAS and autonomous driving technologies that are in desperate need of a sensing solution that delivers unrivaled performance in a low-cost device that is available now. Innoviz has long served as a lighthouse in the LiDAR space, leading the pack with OEM design wins and Tier 1 supplier partnerships – and Harman helps strengthen that lead by offering Innoviz’s LiDAR solutions.”

InnovizOne, which Harman will make available to OEMs through this partnership, is a solid-state LiDAR sensor that is designed specifically for automotive deployments and automaker’s mass-production needs.

Mike Peters, President, Connected Car, HARMAN International, underlined that the partnership: “reflects the company’s leadership in providing high-quality perception solutions now, and dedication to collaboratively pushing the automotive industry forward in the short-term, meeting automakers’ ambitious goals of autonomous vehicles in the next few years. Together, we’ll be able to effect change on a global scale, benefitting our customers and supporting the industry’s unstoppable move towards semi- to fully-autonomous vehicles.”

Innoviz is joining nearly three dozen startups in Las Vegas to take part in the annual CES (International Consumer Electronics Show) conference, running January 8-11.

The company announced in December the opening of new offices across the world, including the US, China, Japan, and Germany, and the launch of a new headquarters in the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin.

In June, Innoviz partnered with Chinese automotive Tier 1 solution provider HiRain Technologies, to bring Innoviz’s LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and computer vision technology to Chinese automakers through HiRain’s sales channels in the country.

In April, Innoviz entered an agreement to supply German auto giant BMW Group with its automotive-grade LiDAR InnovizOne and computer vision software for its autonomous vehicle production

Innoviz was founded in January 2016 by Keilaf, Oren Rosenzweig, Oren Buskila, and Amit Steinberg. The company has raised $82 million to date, including a $73 million Series B funding round in 2017, which included participation from Delphi Automotive and Magna International.