Lumotive has the reputation as the “startup that other tech companies want to work with,” and is now paired up with auto, industrial and smartphone suppliers to integrate LiDAR-based 3D sensing systems into new products. Founded in 2018, the company was recently named Startup of the Year in a competition with other startups at Sensors Converge 2021.
Co-founders Gleb Akselrod, Ph.D., an expert in photonics and optoelectronics, and entrepreneur William Colleran, Ph.D., relied on initial funding from Bill Gates and others.
During the Sensors event, the company showed a new Meta-LiDAR Platform, a small and cost-effective 3D sensor with a LiDAR device and patented beam steering technology and software-defined scan mode. It is powered by Lumotive’s Light Control Metasurface silicon using a standard CMOS process.
Chief Technology Officer Akselrod reached Fierce Electronics via email:
FE: What was your reaction to winning the Startup of the Year award?
GA: We are very pleased that our disruptive technology and products are getting recognized after years of hard work behind the scenes.
This award is for everyone at Lumotive. Our entire team works hard every day to ensure that we are bringing top-notch 3D sensing products to market that are making a measurable impact on our customers’ success -- and it is fantastic to be recognized for those efforts.
FE: What product or accomplishment makes your company deserve the award?
GA: The newly-introduced Lumotive Meta-LiDAR Platform with the tiny M30 LiDAR device is definitely award-worthy. Our solid-state technology is fundamentally different from what has come before in 3D sensing systems and the industry is beginning to recognize and adopt it as a superior solution.
FE: What lessons have you learned from early times as a startup that would be useful for other startups?
GA: Having a disruptive yet useful “secret sauce” is a key factor in technology startup company success. But bringing something so new to market takes vision, money, and a phenomenal team and you need to have all three in the right combination.
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