Luminar to supply lidar sensors for Mobileye’s self-driving fleet

By Paul Lienert

(Reuters) – Luminar Technologies, the self-driving sensor startup that is about to go public, said on Friday that it will supply laser-based lidar sensors to Intel Corp’s Mobileye subsidiary for its test fleet of self-driving vehicles.

Mobileye is one of the world’s largest suppliers of camera-based sensors used by most top automakers in their advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and also is developing high-definition maps for automated vehicles.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mobileye is also the hub of Intel’s initiative to build a multimodal Mobility as a Service (MaaS) business that incorporates different modes of transportation from e-scooters to robotaxis.

Luminar said its lidar will be incorporated into Mobileye’s self-driving hardware and software system, which also uses radar and surround-view cameras.

In May, Mobileye acquired Israel startup Moovit, one of the world’s leading MaaS providers, and said the service eventually would include self-driving robotaxis.

Mobileye and parent Intel are part of a consortium with BMW , Aptiv and others to develop self-driving systems that the group has said it could sell to other automakers.

Luminar said it has development deals with a number of automakers, with Volvo among the first to use the company’s lidar on self-driving vehicles in 2022.

In August, Luminar said it planned to go public through a reverse merger with Gores Metropoulos Inc , a NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company, in a deal valued at $2.9 billion and expected to close this quarter.

Investors in that deal include tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Geely Automobile’s Volvo Cars and VectoIQ, the firm that helped Nikola Corp go public through a SPAC, also known as a blank-check firm.

Luminar is one of several lidar makers to pursue reverse mergers with SPACs. Velodyne Lidar went public earlier this year, and more recently Aeva announced a similar plan.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)