There was big news first thing this week in the lidar industry with the announcement of a proposed merger of equals by Ouster and Velodyne. Both are public companies with Velodyne being one of first developers of lidar sensors for the autonomous vehicle market and Ouster being an early leader in what they like to call “digital lidar.” Where Velodyne built its reputation on analogue, mechanical devices, Ouster supplies there lidar as a one chip-scale laser array with one CMOS sensor. It would certainly seem that solid state is going to be the preferred platform for the driverless car market where appearance and streamlining are important features.
Angus Pacala the CEO of Ouster will become the CEO of the merged entity and Dr. Ted Tewksbury, CEO of Velodyne will become the Executive Chairman of the Board.
“Ouster’s cutting-edge digital lidar technology, evidenced by strong unit economics and the performance gains of our new products, complemented by Velodyne’s decades of innovation, high-performance hardware and software solutions, and established global customer footprint, positions the combined company to accelerate the adoption of lidar technology across fast-growing markets with a diverse set of customer needs,” said Ouster CEO Angus Pacala. “Together, we will aim to deliver the performance customers demand while achieving price points low enough to promote mass adoption.”
This is just the first of what I think will be considerable consolidation of the autonomous lidar industry.
You can listen to the press announcement by clicking HERE.
For the full press release on the proposed merger CLICK HERE.
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