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 <0175.HK> 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)