Warm Congratulations to Innoviz, Global Leader in Solid-State LiDAR, on Successful NASDAQ Listing | Gaorong Ventures News

On April 6, 2021, Innoviz, a leading supplier of high-performance solid-state LiDAR, announced the completion of its business combination with Collective Growth Corporation (NASDAQ: CGRO). The combined company retained the name Innoviz Technologies, Inc. and began trading on the Nasdaq that same day under the tickers "INVZ" and "INVZW." The merger had been approved at a special meeting of Collective Growth shareholders held on March 31, 2021.

Gaorong Ventures participated in Innoviz's Series B round in August 2017. Fellow investors in that round included Delphi and Magna, two of the world's leading automotive parts suppliers, as well as Samsung Electronics, SoftBank Ventures Korea, and Yaotu Capital.

Through the merger, Innoviz raised approximately $371 million in total proceeds, comprising $141 million in trust cash from Collective Growth and $230 million from a common stock PIPE. Strategic investors in the PIPE included Tier-1 supplier Magna International, deal co-sponsor Antara Capital (the PIPE's largest investor), Phoenix Insurance, and other institutional investors.

Innoviz's founding team, from left to right: CBO Oren Rosenzweig, CEO Omer Keilaf, Chief R&D Officer Oren Buskila

Founded in Israel in 2016, Innoviz is a global leader in high-performance solid-state LiDAR. Its co-founders previously held positions at Consumer Physics, Intel, Anobit (acquired by Apple), bTendo (acquired by STMicroelectronics), and NovelSat — well-known institutions with deep expertise in MEMS, optoelectronics, and semiconductors.

Innoviz focuses on the automotive consumer market, the segment with the greatest near-term demand for LiDAR. The company has already launched multiple MEMS solid-state LiDAR products alongside supporting perception software.

InnovizOne is an automotive-grade solution designed for seamless vehicle integration, delivering 3D perception capabilities for Level 3 through Level 5 autonomous driving. In 2018, BMW selected Magna as its Tier-1 supplier to deploy Innoviz's high-end automotive-grade solid-state LiDAR, InnovizOne, on the BMW iNEXT. Over the past two years, Innoviz has continued working with BMW on automotive-grade validation.

In October 2020, Innoviz introduced its newest LiDAR sensor, InnovizTwo, targeting the L2 and L2+ markets. Compared to InnovizOne, InnovizTwo reduces costs by more than 70% while significantly improving performance.

More recently, Innoviz released InnovizAPP, an automotive perception platform for the auto industry. The platform includes automotive-grade hardware and software that enables autonomous vehicles to identify and classify objects. Innoviz has already provided InnovizAPP services to several major automakers, helping them advance their global autonomous driving programs.

"This is a pivotal moment for the Innoviz team and a historic moment for the entire industry," said Omer Keilaf, co-founder and CEO of Innoviz. "Since our founding, Innoviz's engineers have been pushing LiDAR forward, enabling us to bring safe, reliable, and affordable solutions to automakers. Growing demand from customers across Europe, the US, and the Asia-Pacific region, along with our increasing order book, speak to our strength. Becoming a public company will cement Innoviz's leadership position in the global autonomous driving landscape."

Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO of Collective Growth Corporation, said: "Among the large number of LiDAR suppliers, Innoviz has far outperformed its peers. We are honored to have accompanied them on their journey to becoming a public company."

Michael Mao, Founding Partner of Gaorong Ventures, said: "Warm congratulations to Innoviz on its successful Nasdaq listing! Autonomous driving is a complex systems engineering challenge, encompassing perception, planning, actuation, and more. In the perception domain, LiDAR is currently an indispensable key technology for autonomous driving. Built on top-tier technological moats and deep understanding of the automotive consumer market, Innoviz has developed multiple world-leading products and solutions, earning recognition and real-world deployment from leading automakers. As autonomous driving technology continues to mature, it will profoundly transform people's lives. We look forward to Innoviz driving toward an even broader future on this exciting journey."