Outsight, a Paris-based startup that develops real-time 3D LiDAR perception solutions, has raised €22 million in a round that was co-led by Energy Innovation Capital (EIC) and the Defense Innovation Fund managed by Bpifrance.
Other participating investors include Groupe ADP and historical investors BNP Paribas, SPDG, Demeter, Safran, and Faurecia.
The latest funds will help the company accelerate expansion and supports its product roadmap, including Edge and Cloud Processing.
Real-time 3D LiDAR perception solutions
Outsight is a French startup that develops real-time 3D LiDAR perception solutions.The company aims to make LiDAR-based Spatial Intelligence a plug-and-play so it can be used beyond autonomous vehicle applications.
The company has already tested the largest airport LiDAR-based solution in Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and it has been embraced in several other markets throughout Europe, the United States, Asia, and the Middle East, claims the company.
LiDAR hardware is now inexpensive and delivers high performance. However, only a few 3D experts can use the hardware alone. There are also many problems associated with the massive amounts of data it generates and the lack of standardisation across dozens of different hardware vendors.
Raul Bravo, President & Cofounder of Outsight, says, “LiDAR is emancipating from its roots in self-driving car R&D to become the solution of choice in large-scale applications in mature markets, thanks to the new category of enabling software that we have created.”
The French company’s real-time software solves these problems, enabling and accelerating any new project seeking to harness the potential of LiDAR hardware technology from any vendor in the
quickest and easiest way.
Outsight has also integrated its technology with the first Cloud-based LiDAR processing solution for dynamic scenes, which can effectively process enormous amounts of 3D data – on tens of Petabytes. This new product addresses various use cases, such as Digital Twin applications and Automatic 3D Data Annotation.
Outsight has customers in various fields — Automotive and Smart Vehicles market (Stellantis), the Smart Infrastructure market (Groupe ADP), mobile robotics (ECA Group), and Industrial applications (Dunakontroll).
Adrien Muller, Principal at Bpifrance, states, “After supporting Outsight’s early stages of development through our innovation funding, we are delighted to support this new growth stage by acquiring a stake in the company. Our investment reflects our collective ambition to disseminate the benefits of LIDAR technologies thanks to Outsight’s unique software-based approach, which simplifies their use and reduces deployment costs.”
“The opportunity for 3D spatial intelligence and autonomy, beyond autonomous vehicles, is massive and untapped,” says Christopher Smith, Managing Director of Energy Innovation Capital.
“Outsight’s technically elegant solution unlocks the power of LiDAR for mass adoption by solving the complex, raw data problem and providing valuable insights across a broad range of applications. We are very excited to partner with the Outsight team to accelerate the expansion
in the US and global markets,” he adds.
