Lidar technology developer Baraja has lured the support of Csiro's Innovation Fund as it pursues additional business for its autonomous vehicle perception system in the US and Asia.

Australia-based autonomous vehicle optics technology developer Baraja obtained $32m on Thursday in a series A round backed by Csiro Innovation Fund, the venture fund launched by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Venture firms Sequoia China and Blackbird Ventures also participated in the deal. Csiro Innovation Fund is managed by Main Sequence Ventures, which was set up for the purpose in 2017. Founded in 2015, Baraja has launched a lidar-based visual perception system for self-driving vehicles that facilitates their ability to adapt to surrounding environments. Baraja’s approach uses lidar, a radar-like technology that employs pulsed laser beams instead of sound, in combination with algorithm-powered software that alters the lidar’s scan resolution to define the vehicle’s visual focus. The funding will fuel Baraja’s plans to scale its manufacturing capacity and bolster its headcount as it targets expansion in the US and Asia. Steven Ji, partner at Sequoia China, has joined the company’s board of directors. Baraja had previously received approximately $1.5m of seed funding, according to VentureBeat, however the website did not name any participating investors. Main Sequence Ventures, Sequoia China and Blackbird Ventures all backed a round of undisclosed size for Baraja in November 2017, in what was also branded as a series A. Federico Collarte, chief executive of Baraja, said: “As we grow our offices in Sydney, Shanghai and Silicon Valley, Sequoia China, Blackbird and Main Sequence are ideal partners to accelerate our growth in the autonomous vehicle space. “We are thrilled to be working with partners that not only bring capital, but vast strategic experience to our team.”

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