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Venture Capital News: Lunewave Announces $5M Seed Round

2018-09-20
TUCSON, AZ, Lunewave announced today that it has raised $5 million in seed funding.
Lunewave, a startup building new sensors to power autonomous vehicles and 5G wireless networks, announced today that it has raised $5 million in seed funding to develop its groundbreaking radar and antenna technologies. Fraser McCombs Capital (FMC) led the round of financing, which also included strategic investments from BMW i Ventures, Baidu Ventures and others.

"We are very grateful for the immense support from top tier investors and high-profile strategic partners," said John Xin, co-founder and CEO of Lunewave. "FMC and others bring deep experience across the global automotive and technology industry and we are looking forward to hiring top talent and accelerating development to meet demand from customers."

Lunewave manufactures specialized Luneburg lens antennae and radar sensors that can act as the "eyes" of self-driving cars. The innovative, spherical sensors have a 360-degree field of view and can detect objects surrounding a car with high resolution, even at long range and in poor weather, capabilities that are normally only achievable with the use of multiple sensors. This offers automakers a low-cost, powerful alternative to more conventional sensor systems, which can accelerate the deployment of autonomous cars. Lunewave's highly customizable technology means it can have applications in a wide range of industries, including aerospace and wireless telecommunications.

Lunewave received the National Science Foundation's SBIR Program award (Phase I and Phase II) and is an alumnus of URBAN-X, the MINI-backed accelerator for startups reimagining city life, and Plug and Play's Mobility Innovation Platform.

"Lunewave has demonstrated the power of their product and their ability to innovate in the autonomous vehicle space in a way that offers significant value to global OEMs," said Micah Kotch, Managing Director of URBAN-X. "As the first URBAN-X startup to work with BMW's Startup Garage program and receive investment from BMW i Ventures, we couldn't be more excited for the success of Lunewave and what is to come for the company."

Mark Norman, Managing Partner at FMC, will join Lunewave's board of directors.

"We're excited to support the Lunewave team in their mission to revolutionize sensing," said Norman, "We believe Lunewave is building a game-changing radar to transform automotive sensing for ADAS and autonomous applications in all weather conditions."

About Lunewave
Founded in 2017 with ties to the University of Arizona, Lunewave is a technology company developing disruptive antenna and radar sensor technology by leading experts in millimeter wave frequency engineering. Products are geared toward a variety of markets including automotive, telecommunications, aerospace, and research for applications such as autonomous transportation, wireless communications, and drones. For more information, visit www.lunewave.com.

About Fraser McCombs Capital
Fraser McCombs Capital (FMC) is a venture and growth equity investment firm focused on automotive technology. Founded in 2012, the FMC team has decades of experience across all aspects of the automotive industry. With a deep knowledge base, FMC connects portfolio companies with key players across the sector. FMC investors represent some of the most influential companies in the industry, including software and hardware suppliers, finance & insurance companies, dealers & distributors, providers of fleet management and information services, and much more.Additional information can be found at www.fmcap.com.
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