Munich-based LiDAR start-up Blickfeld has completed its Series A financing round. The new financing was led by the venture capital unit of Continental together with Wachstumsfonds Bayern, which is managed by Bayern Kapital, with participation of the existing investors Fluxunit – OSRAM Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, TEV (Tengelmann Ventures) and Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners.
Blickfield’s Cube and Cube Range 1 LiDAR units. The Cube Range is made for extra-long-distance detection.
Blickfeld develops and produces LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors and software for environmental detection. The solid-state sensor developed by Blickfeld delivers high-resolution, three-dimensional environmental data and stands out due to its high performance even in adverse environmental conditions and its small size.
The core of of the LiDAR is a proprietary silicon MEMS mirror specifically developed for LiDAR applications to provide high resolution, long detection range, and a wide field of view. The MEMS mirrors are embedded in a coaxial setup based on commercial off-the-shelf components, making the solid-state devices cost-effective, small in size, and production-scalable.
Blickfeld LiDAR uses centimeter-sized mirrors with a scanning angle of up to 120°, resulting in high resolution, long detection range, and a wide field of view. The coaxial setup provides spatial filtering to achieve the highest sunlight suppression.
Blickfeld’s patented technology is particularly advantageous in terms of its industrialization capability and enables highly automated production of the devices, allowing the company to meet the needs of the automotive mass market. The sensors are used in autonomous driving as well as in smart cities, industrial applications and security solutions.
Blickfeld will use the new financial resources to ramp up production, qualify its LiDAR sensors for the automotive market and strengthen the application development and sales teams for industrial markets.
The safety of autonomous vehicles is based on LiDAR sensor technology. We see Blickfeld in a unique position here, as our technology stands out due to its mass market capability. But the mobility sector is not the only area of application for our LiDAR sensors and recognition software: Numerous other successful customer projects in logistics, smart cities or the security sector confirm our approach, as does the financial commitment of the venture capital unit of Continental, Bayern Kapital and our previous investors. We are now looking forward to taking the next steps into series production.
—Blickfeld co-founder Florian Petit
The start-up Blickfeld, founded by Dr. Mathias Müller, Dr. sc. Florian Petit and Rolf Wojtech, has grown to a team of now more than 100 people since it was founded three years ago. Blickfield plans to expand the application development and sales teams so that the company can increasingly pursue potential in industrial applications in addition to the automotive market. In the coming months, the Blickfeld team will also concentrate on qualifying the LiDAR sensor’s core components for the automotive market and further expanding production.