A month ahead of CED’s Tech Venture conference, Sense Photonics is already making news.
The Raleigh startup, which is developing advanced sensors for drones and autonomous vehicles, has landed nearly $2.8 million from investors, according to an SEC filing early Wednesday. Twelve investors participated in the seed round.
And the startup wants even more, aiming to raise another $2.5 million.
Sense disclosed $500,000 in funding in an SEC filing on Tuesday from one backer.
All the funding is equity.
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development selected Sense to be one of the “Showcase” presenters at the venture event next month.
Sense Photonics is certainly on a fast track, having launched in 2016 under the guidance of two former Semprius executives.
Its technology is called LiDAR.
Here’s how the founders describe the technology:
“Sense Photonics is developing a disruptive LiDAR solution for autonomous vehicles (AVs), drones, industrial automation, mobile devices and other applications.
“LiDAR, which stands for ‘Light Detection and Ranging,’ is an essential sensor for AVs that uses lasers to create highly accurate 3D maps of the vehicle’s surroundings day or night in most weather conditions.
“According to Goldman Sachs, LiDAR is one of the largest market opportunities that will emerge from the autonomous revolution – growing into an almost $100 billion market over the next twenty years.”
Founders are Scott Burroughs, who is CEO, and Russ Kanjorski, who is COO.
Burroughs is a former executive at Semprius, a global leader in solar technology.
Kanjorski also worked at Semprius.
The company already has five employees.
