Lidar maker Innoviz signs $4 bln supply deal with Volkswagen

Innoviz Technologies

02/08/2022 13:48

By Paul Lienert
    Aug 2 (Reuters) - Innoviz Technologies  INVZ.O  will supply
hardware and software to Volkswagen AG's  VOWG_p.DE  Cariad unit
in a deal valued at $4 billion, the Israeli company said on
Tuesday.
    The components, including laser-based lidar sensors, will be
used in advanced driver assistance systems 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.
    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 from $1.6
billion when it went public.
    Early corporate investors in Innoviz included auto suppliers
Magna International  MG.TO , Aptiv  APTV.N  and Samsung
Electronics'  005930.KS  Harman International, according to
investor website PitchBook. SoftBank  9984.T  also was a key
backer.
    Magna in 2018 announced a partnership with Innoviz to supply
lidar to German automaker BMW  BMWG.DE .
    Volkswagen in 2019 invested $2.6 billion in U.S. startup
Argo AI, which is also backed by Ford Motor Co  F.N .
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.
    Cariad, which was established in 2020 to coordinate software
development at Volkswagen, earlier this year announced technical
partnerships with Bosch  ROBG.UL , Qualcomm  QCOM.O  and
STMicroelectronics  STM.BN .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z10VQ urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2WV4DC
    It is not clear how or if Volkswagen plans to mesh aspects
of these various deals under its broader self-driving strategy.
    In early July, Cariad said it planned to "streamline"
efforts to step up the pace of software development after
criticism from Volkswagen's supervisory board.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YL0JE urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2XC302
    In a statement on Tuesday, Cariad said Innoviz would supply
lidar sensors for Cariad's uniform scalable future architecture,
beginning mid-decade. The architecture will underpin a number of
vehicles sold by multiple Volkswagen brands.

 (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit
Editing by Marguerita Choy and Mark Potter)
 ((Paul.Lienert@thomsonreuters.com; mobile +1 313-670-2452;))