Scantinel lands €10M for next gen LiDAR
German photonics startup aims to make LiDAR devices cheaper, faster and easier to mass produce
Scantinel Photonics, a German startup developing nextgen LiDAR solutions for mobility and industrial applications, has secured a €10 million extended Series A. The round was backed by PhotonDelta and current investors Scania Growth Capital and ZEISS Ventures.
Scantinel will use the funding to roll out its Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR devices to customers.
LiDAR has more accuracy and precision in detecting objects and mapping than other solutions such as RADAR and RGB cameras. It is also more immune to interference. This makes it ideal for enabling autonomous driving, as well as within logistics - such as conveyor belts and autonomous cranes. However, LiDAR devices have previously been too large, expensive or difficult to produce to be practical alternatives.
Scantinel has developed its FMCW LiDAR solution using photonic chips fabricated on an Si/SiN platforms, using InP for some of the active components. The company says its technology has the power, affordability and mass production scalability to enable LiDAR to have broad application across industry and mobility.
The technology delivers a detection range beyond 300m with superior resolution and solid-state scanning. Scantinel has signed a number of partnerships with major global automotive, mobility and industrial companies.
The investment by PhotonDelta marks another step in its mission to build a European photonics ecosystem. In April PhotonDelta secured €1.1 billion in public and private investment to scale up production, build 200 startups, create new applications for photonic chips and develop infrastructure and talent.
Andy Zott, managing director and co-founder of Scantinel, said: “We see a great value having PhotonDelta as an additional investor and we are looking forward to maximizing the collaborations and benefits from PhotonDelta’s leading integrated photonics ecosystem.”
Ewit Roos, CEO of PhotonDelta, said: “Photonic chips are a next generation chip technology which will bring new innovations like FMCW LiDAR on CHIP to life and we are excited to ride along this journey with Scantinel. We see the investment in Scantinel as a perfect fit to grow and strengthen our photonics ecosystem.”
Michael Richter, managing director of Scantinel, said: “The investments from our existing investors ZEISS Ventures and Scania Growth Capital, along with our new investor PhotonDelta will accelerate our product development together with our customers and partners.”
