Valens, a Hod HaSharon, Israel-based company that develops HDBaseT technology for the audiovisual and auto markets, has raised $63 million in funding from Linse Capital and Oppenheimer Asset Management. And Valens developed chipsets to simplify in-vehicle connectivity and is planning to accelerate the development of its portfolio for the autonomous vehicle sector.
Ever since Valens last raised funding, the company signed strategic partnerships with leading OEMs and Tier 1 companies. Plus it identified significant opportunities in the autonomous sector.
With this round of funding, Valens is going to ramp up its vision of the autonomous car technologies and address in-vehicle high-performance computing, smart architectures, and PCIe transmission.
“Valens continues to drive the innovation required to enable the future of autonomous vehicles,” said Valens CEO and co-founder Dror Jerushalmi in a statement. “The autonomous and connected vehicles that automakers are designing today depend on advanced chipsets to enable high-speed data transmission. Our technology is leading the pack, optimizing in-vehicle connectivity to handle increased bandwidth with less complexity.”
Valens launched in 2015 with a goal of delivering the most advanced audio/visual chipset technology to the automotive world. And the company’s HDBaseT Automotive chip technology enables unparalleled in-vehicle connectivity, converging audio and video, Ethernet, USB, controls, PCIe, and power through a single cable.
“We are excited to support Valens as they design the most advanced technological solutions for today’s in-vehicle connectivity challenges,” added Linse Capital managing director Michael Linse. “Valens’ technology is ahead of its time and will revolutionize how car manufacturers design and deliver the autonomous and connected car of the future.”
Valens has raised a total of $164 million to date. Israel Growth Partners, Delphi, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Goldman Sachs, and MediaTek put $60 million into Valens last year.
