Stellantis Ventures Backs SteerLight’s Next-Gen LiDAR Technology for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

Stellantis Ventures Backs SteerLight’s Next-Gen LiDAR Technology for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

(IN BRIEF) Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of Stellantis N.V., announces its investment in SteerLight, a pioneer in high-performance LiDAR sensing technology. SteerLight’s innovative LiDAR, powered by silicon photonics technology, promises enhanced resolution, precision, and cost-effectiveness compared to existing systems, with potential applications in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for future Stellantis vehicles. Ned Curic, Stellantis Chief Engineering & Technology Officer, emphasizes the alignment of this investment with Stellantis’ Dare Forward 2030 initiatives, aiming to identify groundbreaking technologies for customer value. SteerLight’s CEO François Simoens underscores the importance of Stellantis’ support in advancing LiDAR adoption across industrial and mobility sectors. With its robust and compact design, SteerLight’s LiDAR overcomes current challenges, paving the way for widespread implementation in next-generation vehicles.

(PRESS RELEASE) AMSTERDAM, 20-Mar-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of Stellantis N.V., today announced it has invested in SteerLight, the developer of a new generation of high-performance LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensing technology.

Employing silicon photonics technology, which combines a universal semiconductor material with the speed of photos, the SteerLight LiDAR senses the surrounding environment in three dimensions with higher resolution and precision, and at a lower volume production cost, than currently available LiDAR systems.

The technology has the potential to give drivers of future Stellantis brand vehicles better performance in a variety of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including automated driving.

“A central aspect of our Dare Forward 2030 initiatives is identifying groundbreaking technologies that deliver substantial value to our customers on a large scale,” said Ned Curic, Stellantis Chief Engineering & Technology Officer. “Automated driving enhancements remain a top priority at Stellantis. The game-changing work at SteerLight can enable enhanced and widespread ADAS applications.”

“We see a great benefit from having Stellantis’ corporate venture fund recognize our innovation so we can unlock large-scale adoption of LiDAR for industrial and mobility applications,” said François Simoens, co-founder and CEO of SteerLight. “Our new LiDAR technology is key to support new services in the automotive industry, and we are looking forward to working together to advance the next generation of vehicles.”

SteerLight, a spinoff of the French CEA-Leti technology center, employs Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR based on silicon photonics technology that puts the system on a microchip. The system is robust (no moving parts) and compact, maximizing flexibility for vehicle engineers. It overcomes challenges of today’s LiDAR technology for vehicles – component size and high cost. The FMCW technology provides highly accurate depth and velocity data while resisting interference from the surrounding environment and other users.

Since its inception in 2022, Stellantis Ventures has invested in 12 startups and one mobility fund, focused on developing cutting-edge technologies that will improve outcomes for individual customers and society as a whole.

About Stellantis Ventures

Established with an initial investment of €300 million, Stellantis Ventures is the first Stellantis corporate venture fund. It targets early and later-stage startup companies that are developing cutting-edge technologies for the automotive and mobility sectors and are focused on improving outcomes for individual customers and society as a whole. The fund has a unique dual mandate that requires portfolio companies to have strong, sustainable growth prospects as well as a high potential for technological adoption within Stellantis’ products and operations. Backed by one of the world’s leading automakers and mobility providers, Stellantis Ventures is uniquely positioned to drive value quickly and effectively for portfolio members.

About Stellantis

Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA / Euronext Milan: STLAM / Euronext Paris: STLAP) is one of the world’s leading automakers aiming to provide clean, safe and affordable freedom of mobility to all. It’s best known for its unique portfolio of iconic and innovative brands including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep®, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Vauxhall, Free2move and Leasys. Stellantis is executing its Dare Forward 2030, a bold strategic plan that paves the way to achieve the ambitious target of becoming a carbon net zero mobility tech company by 2038, with single-digit percentage compensation of the remaining emissions, while creating added value for all stakeholders. For more information, visit www.stellantis.com

Media Contacts:

communications@stellantis.com

Fernão SILVEIRA
+31 6 43 25 43 41
fernao.silveira@stellantis.com

Nathalie ROUSSEL
+33 6 87 77 41 82
nathalie.roussel@stellantis.com

SOURCE: Stellantis NV