Israel’s Oryx Vision raises $50 million to develop new lidar for autonomous vehicles

Israel’s fast-moving autonomous vehicle ecosystem got another boost today when Oryx Vision announced it had raised $50 million for its advanced object detection technology.

Based in Petach Tikva, the company is developing a new technology that allows it to simplify the manufacturing process for its lidar (light detection and ranging) camera. Lidar is an essential component to allow autonomous vehicles to see and understand the terrain around them.

The latest round for Oryx comes 15 months after its last funding, and brings its total raised to $67 million. The new round was led by Third Point Ventures and WRV. Other investors included Union Tech Ventures, as well as previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Maniv Mobility, and Trucks VC.

 

The company said the new money will allow it to speed up development of the lidar technology and continue to seek partnerships with third parties such as car manufacturers. The company expects the first units will be ready for testing in cars by the second half of next year.

“Oryx is building the first solution that will meet all the key requirements of automotive LiDARS — long range, high resolution, and low price — without a tradeoff,” said Rani Wellingstein, Oryx cofounder and CEO, in a statement. “We are delighted to receive a vote of confidence in our vision from such sophisticated investors, and to have the resources to bring this technology to market quickly and at the highest quality.”