Self-Driving Startup Aurora Acquires Lidar Firm Blackmore After Major Funding Round
Following a $530 million Series B round, autonomous vehicle company Aurora acquires lidar startup Blackmore and simulation company 7D Labs to bolster its sensor and data capabilities.
Self-driving car startup Aurora acquires lidar company Blackmore just after closing a massive $530 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital with significant investments from Amazon and T. Rowe Price. The company also reveals a previously unreported acquisition of 7D Labs, a simulation startup that creates photorealistic synthetic data sets for street scenes.
Blackmore stands out in the crowded lidar market because it develops unique frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar technology rather than the standard amplitude-modulated (AM) sensors used by most competitors. Unlike traditional lidar that sends out discrete pulses of light, Blackmore's approach offers distinct advantages in detecting velocity and range, making it a highly attractive asset for autonomous vehicle development.
While Blackmore operates out of Bozeman, Montana with just 70 employees, it holds a strong reputation in both the autonomous vehicle and military sectors. Backed by BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures, the company is considered a long-standing acquisition target, having previously drawn interest from GM's Cruise unit before ultimately being secured by Aurora.