Silicon Valley’s Altos Radar, an emerging automotive radar company, has successfully procured $3.5 million during a seed funding round. This infusion of capital is intended to accelerate the roll-out and marketing of their innovative 4D imaging radars, specifically designed for driver-assisted and fully autonomous vehicles.
Why It Matters
The industry-wide shift toward adopting higher frequency bands, such as the 76-81GHz approved by global RF regulators in 2017, has opened doors to create more compact and higher-resolution radars for automotive applications. While numerous enterprises have ventured into this domain, Altos Radar sets itself apart with its unique real-time LIDAR-like point clouds, promising groundbreaking perception capabilities at a significantly lower price point than its peers.
Key Points
- Altos Radar’s latest 4D imaging RADAR, the Altos V1, boasts superior perception at reduced costs.
- Leaders in the seed funding round included Hesai Technology’s CEO David (Yifan) Li, ZhenFund, and Monad Ventures.
- Advancements in the 76-81GHz frequency band have paved the way for smaller, high-resolution automotive radars.
- Altos V1 radar is the inaugural production-ready, non-FPGA-based, 4-chip cascaded 4D imaging radar. Its merits include:
- Cost-effectiveness
- High reliability
- Ease of mass production
- Radios, by design, excel in long-range detection, accurate velocity gauging, and durability in unfavorable weather. Altos V1 is exemplary in these attributes with a range of 500m for vehicles and 180m for pedestrians.
- Altos Radar’s pioneering team has an illustrious background, with former roles at Hitachi, Huawei, Apple, and Lyft.
Bottom Line
Traditional radars have faced challenges due to limited height information, inadequate angular resolution, and compromised signal-noise performance. Altos Radar’s next-gen 4D imaging radars are poised to address and transform these shortcomings. Given that the 4D imaging radar market is anticipated to grow exponentially, reaching an estimated $8 billion by 2027, and the broader autonomous driving market projected at a staggering $400 billion by 2035, Altos Radar is strategically positioned to be a frontrunner in this burgeoning sector.