Highlights
- The Québec City company specializing in optics has completed a minority financing round with international strategic partners to support the development and commercialization of its LiDAR sensors for autonomous vehicles.
- This external financing round is one of the largest by a Québec tech firm in recent years.
- The company, which has grown from 25 to over 70 employees in one year, will create about 40 new jobs over the next 6 months.
- Protected by some 50 patents, LeddarTech’s flagship technology Leddar allows the company to develop low-cost, high-performance LiDAR sensors.
- LiDAR sensors have various applications and are particularly sought after in the automotive industry, where LeddarTech is in the process of commercializing its detection technology.
Québec City, September 7, 2017 – Founded in 2007 and based in the Capitale-Nationale region, LeddarTech develops and commercializes innovative LiDAR sensor technology for use in, among others, intelligent transportation systems, traffic management and autonomous and semi-autonomous driving solutions.
To help drive the growth of this innovative SME, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ is joining LeddarTech’s new strategic partners in this major financing round of US$101 million, or close to C$130 million.
The Fonds made its first investment in the company in September 2016, along with other LeddarTech financial partners. This funding allowed LeddarTech to confirm its leadership in the market, step up its business development activities and prepare for the next investments.
The strategic partners are global leaders in their respective fields and cover the entire value chain for autonomous vehicle sensors, including customers, suppliers of specialized components and integrated circuit manufacturers. LeddarTech also concluded business agreements with these strategic partners relating to the development, production and integration of its patented Leddar technology into LiDAR solutions for the mainstream automotive market.
Quotes
“Thanks to an experienced, innovative world-class team, LeddarTech has positioned itself strategically to capitalize on the growth of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. The company has already demonstrated that its technology will be a game changer in the sensor market. We firmly believe that the arrival of several international strategic investors, who are active in the automotive industry, will consolidate its leadership. This investment is perfectly in line with the Fonds’ strategy to support innovative companies and shows Québec’s appeal to foreign corporate investors.”
Alain Denis, Senior Vice-President, Innovation, Fonds de solidarité FTQ
“We are delighted to be able to count on the Fonds de solidarité FTQ as a financial partner which, through such investments, allows LeddarTech to accelerate the development and commercialization of its Leddar technology. Thanks to the new partnerships, LeddarTech is currently positioning itself as the LiDAR leader for autonomous and semi-autonomous driving, a market that will be worth several billion dollars by 2020.”
Charles Boulanger, President and CEO, LeddarTech
About the Fonds de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ is a capital development fund that channels the savings of Quebecers into investments. With $13.1 billion in net assets as at May 31, 2017, the Fonds has helped create and maintain over 186,440 jobs. The Fonds has more than 2,700 partner companies and 645,664 shareholder-savers. For more information, visit fondsftq.com.
About LeddarTech
LeddarTech is the developer and owner of Leddar, a patented LiDAR sensing technology that constitutes a novel approach in object detection and ranging. Developed over 10+ years of R&D, Leddar is a unique combination of advanced light wave signal processing and software algorithms that enables the development of highly customizable and cost-effective sensing devices for multiple markets such as automotive, drones, or industrial automation. The technology developed by the company helps improve our quality of life by providing applications that minimize the risk of accidents, reduce road traffic congestion and improve transportation efficiency. www.leddartech.com
- 30 -
Information for media representatives only:
Patrick McQuilken
Senior Advisor, Media Relations and Communications
Fonds de solidarité FTQ
Telephone: 514 850-4835
Mobile: 514 703-5587
Email: pmcquilken@fondsftq.com