Lidar Developer Innoviz Technologies Going Public In $1.4 Billion SPAC Deal

Innoviz Technologies Inc., an Israeli developer of lidar systems for autonomous driving, is going public through a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) funding from Antara Capital, Perception Capital Partners and automotive supplier Magna International.

The deal values Innoviz at about $1.4 billion, and will provide up to $350 million from the investment group. The acquiring entity will be Collective Growth Corp. The combined company will use the Innoviz Technologies name and will be listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol INVZ.

SPACs are shell companies that complete an initial public offer for the purpose of buying another company within two years. Frequently they have become a way to accelerate technology companies’ path to stock markets.

Innoviz was founded in 2016 by a group of Israeli Intelligence Corps veterans. The company has worked with Magna and Aptiv Plc to develop the lidar system for BMW’s iX SUV which will be introduced in 2021. Both Magna and Aptiv have already invested in Innoviz, as have Samsung-Harman, Vertex Ventures, SoftBank Ventures Asia and Phoenix Insurance.

“Our engineers, along with Magna International, have been working tirelessly to bring a solution that automakers can adopt to at scale and trust to perform safely and reliably,” said Omer Keilaf., Innoviz CEO, said in a statement.

Lidar uses sensors, that deploy rotating laser light rays to recognize, or “see,” the environment around a vehicle, including traffic signs, signals, pedestrians, cyclists and buildings.

Innoviz’s SPAC transaction comes after several competitors completed similar SPAC deals earlier this year.

Luminar Technologies went public through a merger with Gores Metropoulos. Velodyne Lidar was acquired this past summer by Graf Industrial Corp. Last month Aeva, a Mountain View, Calif.-based lidar competitor backed by Porsche, agreed to be acquired by InterPrivate Acquisition Corp.