Laser Vision Upstart Luminar Snags Volvo Funds And Lidar Deal For Its Robot Cars

Lidar maker Luminar says its sensors generate the highest-resolution images currently available for autonomous vehicles. Luminar, a maker of laser lidar sensors that self-driving cars need to see their surroundings in 3D, will supply the latest versions of its technology to Sweden's Volvo Cars, which is also investing in the Silicon Valley startup. Led by 23-year-old optics wunderkind Austin Russell, Luminar will provide both its hardware, combining the lidar sensor and cameras, and new perception software that helps the artificial intelligence driving Volvo's vehicles more rapidly interpret copious amounts of sensor data flowing in. The investment in Luminar by Volvo Cars Tech Fund is "significant," according to Russell, though neither he nor the automaker is disclosing the amount. "This is a partnership with Volvo Cars to power their autonomous vehicle development effort with our lidar sensing platform at its core," Russell, who founded Luminar in 2012 while still in high school, told Forbes.