Luminar

Luminar Technologies embarked on its journey in 2012, the brainchild of Austin Russell, who, at the remarkable age of 17, envisioned a new frontier for automotive safety. Jason Eichenholz joined shortly thereafter as Chief Technology Officer and co-founder. The company spent its initial five years operating in stealth mode, a period dedicated to intensive research and development. Russell's ambitious goal was to revolutionize lidar technology by fabricating many components in-house, a departure from the industry's reliance on off-the-shelf parts. This strategic decision aimed to achieve superior resolution and range for lidar systems. A pivotal moment came in 2013 when Luminar re-evaluated the standard operating wavelength for lidar, opting for 1,550 nanometers in the infrared range instead of the conventional 905 nanometers. This shift was crucial in extending the reaction time for autonomous vehicles at highway speeds from a mere one second to a significantly safer seven seconds.

Luminar emerged from stealth in April 2017, securing $36 million in Series A funding. This capital injection was earmarked for establishing a factory in Orlando, Florida, with the capacity to manufacture 10,000 automotive lidar devices. The same year, Luminar announced a significant partnership with the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), integrating its lidar technology into TRI's Platform 2.1 self-driving test vehicles. By 2018, the company had already advanced to its seventh-generation application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design, showcasing a fully integrated technology stack. A major milestone was achieved in August 2020 when Luminar announced its intention to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal with Gores Metropoulos, a move that valued Luminar at an estimated $3.4 billion. The company officially began trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol LAZR on December 3, 2020. Throughout its evolution, Luminar has remained steadfast in its mission to enhance vehicle safety and enable autonomy, forging partnerships with leading automotive manufacturers like Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz, and technology giants such as NVIDIA and Mobileye. The company's focus has been on developing advanced lidar hardware and sophisticated software solutions, including its Sentinel software suite, to power the next generation of safe and intelligent vehicles.