BMW, Toyota Invest in Lidar Developer

Blackmore Sensors and Analytics Inc., a Montana-based developer of lidar sensors, says it has raised $18 million as part of a Series B funding round led by BMW AG’s I Ventures unit.

Other contributors include Toyota Motor Corp.’s AI Ventures, Millennium Technology Value Partners and Next Frontier Capital. Blackmore plans to use the investment to scale up production of its sensors for advanced driver assistance systems and self-driving vehicles.

The company says its lidar is the first in the industry to use a frequency-modulated continuous wave technology in place of short laser pulses. Continuous wave systems are better suited to the use of integrated photonics for next-generation solid-state lidar that promises improved performance and lower costs, according to Blackmore.

The company is partnering with research experts to develop application-specific, solid-state scanners in silicon photonics. This will be teamed with Blackmore's technology to enable the mass production of solid-state lidar.

Featuring a standard optical fiber communications layer, Blackmore’s first-generation lidar has a range of more than 200 m (656 ft). Other purported benefits include improved sensitivity that allows sensors to better detect bright and dark objects through rain, snow and dust.