Denso Invests in Lidar Developer

Denso Corp. has made an unspecified investment in Trilumina Corp., an Albuquerque, N.M.-based company that specializes in solid-state lidar (light detection and ranging) and other laser-based technologies.

Including Denso’s investment, Trilumina says it has raised $15 million since the company was founded in late 2011. Caterpillar invested in the company last year.

Lidar is considered a key enabling technology for autonomous vehicle systems. Trilumina says its solid-state lidar technology uses a unique architecture described as a two-dimensional array of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers that allow for simultaneous high-power output and high-bandwidth modulation.

In addition to automotive applications, Trilumina aims to use the technology in industrial robots and consumer electronic devices.

The company is located in a 16,000-sq-ft facility at the University of New Mexico’s Science and Technology Park. It employs 18 people and is in the process of hiring three more.