Lumotive Adds New Investments from USAA and Uniquest to a Strategic Funding Round Led by Samsung Ventures

With more than $56 million in total financing to date, optical semiconductor company gears up for mass deployment of LCM™ chips

SEATTLE, Jan. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumotive,  the developer of Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) beam steering chips enabling the next generation of 3D sensors, today announced that it has secured additional funding from new investors USAA and Uniquest in a $13M round of strategic funding led by Samsung Ventures, bringing the total amount raised to date to more than $56 million. Lumotive will use the new funding to accelerate the development and customer delivery of optical semiconductor devices that enable the next generation of lidar sensors. More than two dozen world-class companies are currently engaged with Lumotive to utilize the high-performance, small form factor, and low-cost advantages of the company's LCM chips to develop next-generation lidar systems for autonomy, automation, and augmented reality (AR) markets.

"Disruptive approaches to enabling next generation lidar capabilities are imperative for important applications such as automotive safety," said Michael Smith, Assistant Vice President, Corporate development at USAA. "Lumotive's all-silicon LCM solutions make lidar affordable and deployable for a wide range of uses, and we're excited to help accelerate their product development and deployment efforts through this investment."

"We believe Lumotive's innovative optical semiconductor chips will disrupt the consumer and industrial segments of the 3D sensor market," said Andrew Kim, President and CEO of Uniquest. "We are very excited to form a long term partnership with Lumotive as an investor, and to represent the company and promote its products in South Korea."

"Strategic investments made by prominent industry leaders in promising semiconductor startups like Lumotive is great news for the mobility sensor sector," said Mark Fitzgerald, Director, Autonomous Vehicle Service, at Strategy Analytics. "This funding round acknowledges the foresight of Lumotive's semiconductor-based product strategy and is has the potential to give the company a measurable time-to-market advantage."

"We are very pleased to have USAA and Uniquest join our family of brand name investors as we ramp up to deliver disruptive semiconductors enabling Lidar 2.0 — a crucial 3D sensing technology for diverse, consumer, automotive, and industrial markets ," said Dr. Sam Heidari, CEO of Lumotive.  "Our LCM chips are uniquely positioned to address the broad range of perception and safety requirements across those sectors.  This additional funding will accelerate the deployment of the current generation of LCM chips and the development of the next generation of our product."

CES attendees can learn more about Lumotive's solutions at Booth #5877, Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall, January 5-7, 2023.

Lumotive's transformative optical semiconductors are enabling the next generation of 3D sensing for consumer, mobility, and industrial markets. The company's Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) optical semiconductors utilize revolutionary, patented beam-steering technology to deliver an unprecedented combination of best-in-class performance, cost, reliability, and size. Lumotive's LCMs enable the industry's first software-defined lidar with advanced perception capabilities. The company has received measurable industry acclaim with inclusion in the following rankings: Sensors Converge/Fierce Electronics 2021 Startup of the Year,  Built In Seattle's Best Small Companies to Work For, JMP Securities Efficient Fifty list of the most interesting private companies in industrial and energy technology, and EE Times' Silicon 100: Emerging Startups to Watch.  Lumotive's LCM technology was recently recognized with two CES 2022 Innovation Awards,  a 2022 SPIE PRISM Award, a 2022 Business Intelligence Group "Excellence in Artificial Intelligence" Award, and a prestigious Edison Award.  Investors include Gates Frontier, MetaVC Partners, Quan Funds, Samsung Ventures, Uniquest, and  USAA.

About Samsung Ventures
Samsung Venture Investment Corporation was established to promote promising small and medium-sized companies engaging in the development of new technologies. Our collaboration is based on managerial know-how and trust, and actively investing in future-oriented businesses based on new and innovative technologies that are expected serve as new growth engines. Samsung Venture Investment Corporation manages investment and investment-related activities for Samsung affiliate companies. The investment mandate for Samsung Venture Investment Corporation tracks closely to the strategic priorities of Samsung affiliate companies' core operating divisions, and encompasses investments in semiconductors, displays, telecommunications, and consumer electronics.

About USAA
Founded in 1922 by a group of military officers, USAA is among the leading providers of insurance, banking and investment and retirement solutions to nearly 13 million members of the U.S. military, veterans who have honorably served and their families. Headquartered in San Antonio, Tex., USAA has offices in eight U.S. cities and three overseas locations and employs more than 37,000 people worldwide. Each year, the company contributes to national and local nonprofits in support of military families and communities where employees live and work. For more information about USAA, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@USAA), or visit usaa.com.

About Uniquest
Uniquest is a recognized and respected leader and innovator in the distribution of electronic components. We provide an exemplary standard of products, services and solutions to best suit the concerns of our customers.

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SOURCE Lumotive