Israeli Tech Firm Light Raises $165 Million for Robot Vision Systems

Israeli tech company Light has successfully raised $165 million in a funding round that values the company at $1.6 billion. This latest investment comes just eight months after Light emerged from stealth mode, having previously announced a $107 million raise. To date, Light has secured a total of $272 million since its inception.

The funding round saw participation from notable investors including Maverick Silicon, Fidelity, Atrides Management, K1 Capital, and Aura Global. Existing investors such as Exor Ventures also participated. Aviigdor Willner, the founding investor of Light and its chairman, has a significant track record in the Israeli semiconductor industry, having founded companies like Galileo, which was sold to Marvell for approximately $2.7 billion, and was an early investor in Anapurna Labs (acquired by Amazon) and Habana Labs (acquired by Intel for $2 billion).

The founding team of Light also brings extensive experience in sensor technology. CEO Alexander Shpunt was a co-founder and CTO of PrimeSense, an Israeli company that developed 3D sensing technology used in Microsoft's Kinect and was acquired by Apple for $350 million in 2013. The technology and employees from PrimeSense were integrated into Apple's depth-sensing systems, including Face ID.

Light is not developing complete robots but rather the core systems that enable robots and autonomous machines to perceive their environment. Their primary product, LyteVision, integrates 4D sensing, color imaging, and motion measurement into a single system. This system, along with proprietary chips and software, processes environmental data into a format that AI systems can understand, facilitating real-time navigation and interaction for mobile robots, industrial arms, autonomous vehicles, and more.

The company is also collaborating with Nvidia, integrating its systems with Nvidia's Holoscan platform to enhance the development of autonomous machines. The newly raised capital will be used to further develop its sensor, chip, and software technologies, and to expand its commercial operations. Light aims to position itself as the crucial layer between robot hardware manufacturers and chip providers, translating the physical world into understandable data for machines.