July 12, 2019 | Announcements
GCA Advises Luminar on Its $100M Private Capital Raise
We are pleased to announce that our client, Luminar Technologies, Inc. (“Luminar”), an autonomous vehicle sensor and software company, has received a recent $100 million investment which, along with previously unannounced capital, brings the company’s total raised to date to more than $250 million. Major financial investors include G2VP, two of the most prominent sovereign wealth funds, Moore Strategic Ventures LLC, Nick Woodman, The Westly Group, 1517 Fund / Peter Thiel and Canvas Ventures, along with strategic investors Corning Incorporated, Cornes and Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
This capital will help accelerate Luminar’s foray into the consumer and commercial series production vehicle markets. Today, 12 of the world’s top 15 automotive companies are working with Luminar’s sensing platform as part of global self-driving development programs. Additionally, strengthening Luminar’s plans for series production are strategic supply chain partners and investors, Cornes and Corning.
GCA acted as sole placement agent to Luminar in connection with this transaction.
Based in Palo Alto, CA Luminar is an autonomous vehicle sensor and software company with the vision to power every autonomous vehicle by delivering the only LiDAR capable of making them both safe and ubiquitous. Founded in 2012, Luminar is a 350-person team with offices in Palo Alto, Orlando and Colorado Springs.
“We’re at a stage where everyone in the industry is hacking together Frankenstein solutions with off-the-shelf parts for their R&D programs, but to successfully achieve series production autonomy, hardware and software have to be seamlessly developed and integrated in tandem,” said Austin Russell, Luminar’s chief executive officer. “This combined, turnkey solution for series production vehicles is key to democratizing autonomy in the industry, enabling every automaker to deliver on the promise of self-driving capabilities on their vehicles.”
“We’ve been following the LiDAR industry closely for the last 5 years, watching for a technology leader to emerge that can enable Level 4 autonomy,” said Ben Kortlang, Founding Partner at G2VP. “With the release of Iris, Luminar uniquely offers a LiDAR solution that meets the performance, safety and cost metrics that OEMs require to commercialize autonomous vehicles. Luminar’s product is the enabling technology that will put autonomous vehicles on the road sooner than we expected.”
About GCA
GCA is a global investment bank that provides strategic M&A and capital markets advisory services to growth companies and market leaders. The firm offers worldwide coverage with over 400 professionals in 21 offices across America, Asia and Europe. Built by the people that run the business, GCA is a firm of experts who focus on deals that require commitment, original perspective, skill and exceptional networks. Learn more at www.gcaglobal.com.