Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of Stellantis N.V., invested in SteerLight, the developer of a new generation of high-performance LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensing technology.

Employing silicon photonics technology, the SteerLight LiDAR senses the surrounding environment in three dimensions with higher resolution and precision, and at a lower volume production cost, than currently available LiDAR systems.

The technology has the potential to give drivers of future Stellantis brand vehicles better performance in a variety of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including automated driving.

SteerLight, a spinoff of the French CEA-Leti technology center, employs Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR based on silicon photonics technology that puts the system on a microchip.

The system is robust (no moving parts) and compact, maximizing flexibility for vehicle engineers. It overcomes challenges of today’s LiDAR technology for vehicles—component size and high cost. The FMCW technology provides highly accurate depth and velocity data while resisting interference from the surrounding environment and other users.

Since its inception in 2022, Stellantis Ventures has invested in 12 startups and one mobility fund.