Writing? /? Zhu Lin
Edited by? /? Yanping Tu
Design? /? Zhao Haoran
Source? /?Autonews, Forbes, by Alan?Ohnsman, Joshua?Franklin, Stephen?Nellis
The stock frenzy caused by high-tech transportation companies merging through SPAC in 2020 isn't over yet. Silicon Valley startup Aeva, a maker of self-driving car sensors that incorporate lidar, camera and radar capabilities, is headed for the New York Stock Exchange, where a deal pushed its valuation to more than $2 billion.
The Mountain View, California-based company, founded by two former Apple engineers, is in the process of merging with InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. and is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "AEVA" by the first quarter of 2021.
InterPrivate is an SPAC led by private equity investor Ahmed Fattouh, which raised $210 million in an initial public offering in February.
SPACs are shell companies that use the proceeds of an IPO to acquire a private company, usually within two years. Merging with SPAC is an alternative to going public through a traditional IPO for the acquired company.
The deal for Aeva, whose investors include Adage?Capital and Porsche Holding AG, will provide up to $343 million in gross proceeds. After the company goes public, previous investors including Lux?Capital, Canaan?Partners and Lockheed?Martin will continue to hold stakes in the company.
Aeva, founded by former Apple engineers Soroush?Salehian and Mina?Rezk, makes LiDAR, which competes with Velodyne, Luminar and others to provide a three-dimensional view of the road for self-driving cars.
Aeva founders Solosi Cerian (left) and Mina Rezk, who founded Aeva after leaving Apple in 2017
In an interview with Forbes, Fatto said, "We were skeptical about how many LiDAR companies there are out there, and after our first meeting, we realized that this is a completely different kind of business - a perceptual company focused outside of the automotive space."
"The fact that this team comes from Apple and has knowledge of all sorts of different consumer, consumer health and industrial applications well beyond the automotive space really sets it apart," Fato said.
Lidar's ability to provide very detailed 3D images makes it a key technology for self-driving cars to accurately see the world, but it is relatively costly and poses technical challenges in seamlessly integrating with the digital cameras and radar robots used in cars.
In contrast to LIDAR industry giants Velodyne and Lumine, which are also marketed through SPAC, Aeva is positioning its sensor as a "4D" system, which integrates LIDAR functionality into a single silicon chip but can also measure speed.
Aeva has integrated key features of its lidar sensor into a single silicon chip
Rather than firing a laser beam to determine distance and depth, Aeva's system fires a continuous, low-power laser beam to measure changes in the frequency of an object's reflected waves. This method provides better data than traditional LIDAR and doesn't interfere with other sensors, said co-founder Solosi Serean.
Aeva's sensors can also detect the speed of distant objects, helping to distinguish between pedestrians and stationary objects.
"We actually measure speed very similar to radar. With velocity, we can get a maximum range of 300 or 400 for each dot or pixel. we're getting it down to centimeters per second, which will fundamentally change the way you look at perception." He said.
"It's like your camera goes from black and white to color. Everything changes for your understanding of the world. Everything changes when you have a new dimension of metric capability. That's exactly what we offer."
Aeva's laser sensor blends traditional lidar capabilities with radar and computer vision
The company raised more than $100 million in funding before announcing its IPO, according to PitchBook. It will be valued at about $2.1 billion through the sale of new shares and funds associated with the merger with InterPrivate. After the merger, Aeva will receive a cash infusion of more than $300 million to develop sensors for phones, tablets and other consumer devices.
Serian said Aeva has so far entered into business partnerships with Porsche and parts giant ZF, and may soon have more deals to disclose. Revenue this year will be in the "multi-million dollar" range, but will rise to $800 million a year by 2025 as commercial supply agreements begin.
Aeva is partnering with Audi's Automated Intelligent Driving unit in 2019 to supply sensors for passenger cars, and this year has also formed a manufacturing alliance with ZF.
Aeva says their sensors don't rely on powerful lasers or exotic materials, which helps shrink the cost and size of the devices.
Smaller chips help reduce the cost and size of devices
Aeva's sensors, which are slightly larger than a deck of cards, sell for "a couple hundred dollars" for a single unit, Sereon said. While automotive applications were Aeva's early focus, it is increasingly looking to partner with consumer tech and healthcare companies that need biometric data tools.
"When we're talking about a vehicle traveling hundreds of meters, we can measure speeds down to centimeters per second, but the same chip-scale technology can measure micron-level accuracy over a smaller distance traveled but with increased processing power." That, he says, "means measuring vibration."
If you put an Aeva sensor on someone's skin, for example, "we'll start to understand biometrics, typical things like heart rate, and maybe more complex things like atherosclerosis over time."
The information would be gathered from the sensor beams, not through a device attached to the body. Cyrean said, "As far as I know, we are the only company that can offer this unique chip-based lidar technology that measures both high-range performance and consumer applications." But he did not point to potential new partners.
Aeva Lidar will also be used outside of the automobile
"We expect Aeva to be used in many applications, not only in highly assisted or self-driving vehicles." He said.
A growing number of devices, such as Apple's new iPad?Pro and iPhone?12?Pro, are equipped with LiDAR sensors to help enable applications such as augmented reality (AR), in which digital content is overlaid on the real world.
However, LIDAR sensors in consumer devices currently have an effective range of about 5 meters, Sereian said. Aeva believes it can develop sensors with an effective range of 30 meters or more by 2024, he said. The company hopes to bring the cost of the sensors down to about $10.
This article comes from the author of Automotive House Car Family, and does not represent the viewpoint position of Automotive House.