LG Innotek invests up to $50 mil. in Aeva to expand sensing tech market

LG Innotek officials demonstrate a digial key during a press event at the company's headquarters in southwestern Seoul, July 16. Courtesy of LG Innotek

Components manufacturer LG Innotek will make an investment of up to $50 million in Nasdaq-listed U.S. sensing technology firm Aeva Technologies, as the two companies seek to expand perception technologies to new growth sectors.

Aeva and LG Innotek said Tuesday the two companies agreed to form a broad strategic collaboration, which involves a $50 million investment comprising equity, capital investment and nondilutive investment for new product development.

With the investment, LG Innotek will secure approximately a 6 percent stake in Aeva. Also under the collaboration, the two sides will co-develop advanced sensing and perception solutions and bring them to new markets including consumer devices, robotics and industrial automation.

Aeva is gaining global recognition in the autonomous driving market for being the first in the world to develop frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW)-based 4D light detection and ranging (LiDAR), which excels in long-range object sensing. Since 2022, the company has been mass-producing its 4D LiDAR and currently has major automakers, including Daimler Truck, among its clients.

The multifaceted collaboration is aimed at adopting Aeva’s FMCW perception platform into physical artificial intelligence (AI). Physical AI systems are equipped with sensors and allow the software to perceive, understand and interact with the physical world.

In the automotive sector, LG Innotek will manufacture Aeva’s Ultra 4D LiDAR sensors for a development program awarded to Aeva from a top-10 global carmaker.

In the industrial automation sector, the two companies will codevelop new sensing and perception products for use across indoor and outdoor industrial equipment.

Aeva also noted that the two sides will pursue opportunities to deliver next-generation perception systems for the robotics market, citing LG Innotek’s position as a key supplier of optical and LiDAR sensing solutions for the sector.

Aeva Technologies' LiDAR solution / Courtesy of Aeva Technologies

In the consumer device sector, Aeva and LG Innotek plan to explore new product opportunities in emerging consumer applications such as smartphones, tablets, smart appliances and home robotics.

“The ultimate goal of this partnership is for LG Innotek and Aeva Technologies to grow together as key players leading the next-generation LiDAR market through a long-term technology partnership that goes beyond the supply of products,” LG Innotek CEO Moon Hyuk-soo said.

“Starting with this collaboration with Aeva, LG Innotek will continue to expand its LiDAR product lineup and further solidify its position in the global market as a total mobility solutions provider for the future.”

“LG Innotek is a global leader in cutting-edge technology components, and their decision to collaborate with Aeva underscores the growing recognition of FMCW as the future of sensing and perception technology,” Aeva CEO Soroush Salehian said.

“By leveraging the unique capabilities of FMCW sensing and proprietary software, we can help machines see with greater precision and enable faster, safer and more intelligent decision-making across industries.”