Ouster (merged with Velodyne Lidar)

Ouster (merged with Velodyne Lidar in February 2023) develops LiDAR solutions for various applications such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles, drones, trucking, industrial uses, mapping, robotics, and security. 

Ouster’s product line consists of “OS0” with a range of 50 meters and 90-degree field of view (FoV), “OS1” with a range of 120 meters and 45-degree FoV, “OS2” with a range of 240 meters and 22.5-degree FoV, and “REV7” with double the range and enhanced object detection. The company has a manufacturing facility at its headquarters in San Francisco, California, and also has outsourced production to Benchmark Electronics, a Thai manufacturer, to scale production.

Velodyne automotive-grade LiDAR includes “Alpha Prime” (180–300 meter range with a FOV of 360 x 40 degrees), “Ultra Puck” (200-meter range with a FOV of 360 x 40 degrees), and “Puck Hi-Res” (100-meter range with a 20-degree vertical FoV), while solid-state “Velarray H800” (200-meter range with wide horizontal FoV) and “Velabit” (100-meter range with a FOV of 90 x 70 degrees) are more commonly used for ADAS applications. Its software development kit dubbed “Vella,” introduced in July 2021, provides customers with access to its LiDAR-based perception software and sensors for autonomous vehicles, ADAS, sidewalk delivery droids, drones, industrial robots, etc. 

Ouster’s and Velodyne’s combined company had 850+ customers as of February 2023. Ouster’s key clients in the autonomous vehicle space include autonomous trucking companies such as Ike (November 2019) and Plus (February 2021), technology company Nvidia (September 2019), and self-driving tech companies Coast Autonomous (July 2019) and May Mobility (February 2021). Automotive companies that have integrated Velodyine’s LiDAR sensors include Ford (and Ford Otosan), Motional, Daimler, May Mobility, Baidu, Renovo, Optimus Ride, and Navya. Separately, pre-merger, Ouster had reported shipping 15,000+ sensors and Velodyne 75,000+ sensors to its customers as of September 2022.

Ouster also acquired Sense Photonics, a solid-state LiDAR developer for the automotive sector, in October 2021, to complement its product development. Meanwhile, Velodyne acquired Mapper.ai, a mapping and localization software provider, in 2019 to accelerate the development of Vella.