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

Employing silicon photonics technology, which combines a universal semiconductor material with the speed of photos, 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.

Ned Curic, Stellantis Chief Engineering and Technology Officer said: “Automated driving enhancements remain a top priority at Stellantis.”

SteerLight, a spin-off 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.

François Simoens, co-founder and CEO of SteerLight said: “Our new LiDAR technology is key to support new services in the automotive industry, and we are looking forward to working together to advance the next generation of vehicles.”

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

Details of the investment amount were not disclosed.