German LiDAR technology firm raises $31m
Munich solid state laser sensor startup Blickfeld has raised $31m in its Series A funding round, first announced in March last year.
The company is developing a mass-producible LiDAR technology and will use the funds for further development of sensors and software for 3D data.
Early in 2022, Blickfeld plans to launch perception software technology with object detection, classification, tracking, and counting for people analytics as well as industrial, smart traffic, security, and unmanned aerial vehicles. The people analytics is a significant opportunity for the global application of the Blickfeld 3D-LiDAR sensors to provide crucial data on congestion, crowd management and waiting times whilst maintaining the privacy of members of the public.
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Since its last funding round, Blickfeld has launched series production of its 3D-LiDAR sensors, Cube 1 and Cube Range 1, for multiple industrial applications. Thee have been used in multiple large-scale rollout projects, such as passenger flow detection at airports and volume measurement of bulk material in product warehouses.
The backing comes includes New Future Capital (NFC), a private equity firm that provides growth capital primarily in Asia, North America, and Europe, as a new investor alongside Bayern Kapital, Continental, Fluxunit – ams OSRAM Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Tengelmann Ventures, and UVC Partners.
The company has resellers in 13 countries, including Germany, Canada, China, and Japan, and the new financing round will support the opening of offices in the US and Asia to expand its network of integrators. Alongside growth into new markets, the number of employees will rise significantly with a focus on the sales team.
“The additional funding in this round of investment signals the continued confidence our investors hold in our vision to capture and analyze the world with a comprehensive solution,” said Dr Mathias Müller, co-founder and CEO of Blickfeld. “We are proud to say that our solutions are now being utilized by businesses and organizations across the globe! Now we are accelerating on our journey of internationalization and strive to further diversify our unique product range through this funding. Our new investor NFC has a strong network in Asia and the US and will be of great value for Blickfeld to gain a firm foothold in the US and Asia quickly and substantially.”
Jörg Strauß, Senior Vice President & General Manager Business Line Visualization & Laser at ams OSRAM said: “As a long-term partner, we have been supporting Blickfeld from the beginning. Combining their proprietary MEMS technology with our industry leading 905 nm Edge Emitting Laser components, Blickfeld’s sensors show the capabilities of scanning LiDAR technology in real-world use cases and in industrial scale. We are looking forward to accompany their growth path in the future.”
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