Israel-headquartered Innoviz Technologies will supply hardware and software to Volkswagen’s Cariad unit in a deal valued at $4 billion (Rs 31,764 crore).
The components, including laser-based LiDAR sensors, will be used in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and automated vehicles from multiple brands in the Volkswagen Group, starting mid-decade, Innoviz said.
Cariad confirmed the deal but declined to provide financial details.
The deal value as estimated by Innoviz is more than seven times the size of the company’s market value of just over $500 million (Rs 3,970 crore).
In a statement, Innoviz Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Omer Keilaf described the Cariad supply deal as “a significant catalyst” for his company, which was founded in 2016 and went public via a reverse merger in April 2021.
Innoviz since then has seen its share price fall by two-thirds and its market value sliced to $540 million (Rs 4,288 crore) from $1.6 billion (Rs 12,705 crore) when it went public.
Early corporate investors in Innoviz included auto suppliers Magna International, Aptiv and Samsung Electronics’ Harman International, according to investor website PitchBook. SoftBank also was a key backer.
Magna in 2018 announced a partnership with Innoviz to supply LiDAR to German automaker BMW.
Volkswagen in 2019 invested $2.6 billion (Rs 20,646 crore) in U.S. startup Argo AI, which is also backed by Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen’s investment included the value of the automaker’s European self-driving unit, control of which was transferred to Argo as part of the deal.
