SiLC Technologies Bags $12M to Propel Organizational R&D

Semiconductor Review | Tuesday, June 30, 2020

SiLC Technologies raises $12 million to scale organizational R&D and operations, delivering long-range, single-chip LiDAR for autonomous vehicles.

FREMONT, CA: The leading developer of integrated single-chip FMCW LiDAR solutions, SiLC Technologies, has bagged $12M in the seed-funding round. Dell Technologies Capital, along with ITIC Ventures, Decent Capital, and several prominent angel investors, led this round of financing. The company used the raised funds to scale its R&D and operations to develop its frequency modulated continuous wave silicon photonic 4D+ Vision Chip platform. SiLC has produced a significant body of intellectual property and proprietary process for manufacturing high-performance optical components at a massive scale.   

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Integrating all essential functions for building an FMCW chip on a cost-effective silicon platform represents the holy grail of LiDAR. SiLC's team has 20+ years of experience and a proven track record commercializing silicon photonics solutions. Utilizing the company's second-generation FMCW silicon photonics 4D+ Vision Chip generates scans, SiLC, to detect objects smaller than one and a half inches at a range of nearly 200 meters. It translates an effective resolution of around 0.01 degrees vertically and horizontally. This level of performance capability enables a vehicle traveling at highway speed to stop or avoid objects within more than 200 meters range, a critical aspect of autonomous vehicle navigation and safety. The company enables a dramatic advancement to 4D imaging and associated LiDAR technology, facilitating a much-needed cost volume scaling that follows the dynamics of the semiconductor industry.

SiLC Technologies, Inc. is a pioneering provider of highly integrated FMCW LiDAR solutions. The company's initial center is on its integrated 4D+ Vision Chip that demonstrated a range of beyond 300 meters and applicable to a wide range of applications. SiLC utilizes an established silicon-based semiconductor fabrication means to manufacture its chips and standard, automated IC style assembly processes, facilitating robust, affordable, and compact solutions.

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