Quebec City’s LeddarTech Raises $7 Million Through BDC and GO Capital

Quebec City’s LeddarTech has raised $7 million in equity financing from BDC Capital and GO Capital.

The company, which specializes in high-performance sensors with a variety of applications, will use the money to expand both its marketing efforts and manufacturing capacity.

“This round of financing puts us in the position to bolster our go-to-market activities and engage more efficiently with prospective clients and markets,” said CEO Charles Boulanger.

Without naming clients, Mr. Boulanger spoke last year at the SPS IPC Drives show in Nuremberg, Germany, at which he introduced the company’s new IS16 Industrial Leddar Sensor. He spoke of a U.S.-based company who uses the company’s product for toll-booth applications, and of a French client who uses the sensor for speed detection applications for law enforcement.

“Many international customers have started to recognize the distinctive benefits that Leddar detection and ranging technology can bring them,” added Boulanger. “Our LED-based, modular solutions represent a key enabler for various sensing applications in areas such as transportation, security, robotics, unmanned vehicles, heavy machinery, industrial automation, consumer goods, and agriculture, just to name a few.”

LeddarTech, which stands for “Light Emitting Diode Detection and Ranging”, claims to offer the best cost-to-performance ratio for similar technology in the 3D detection and tracking space.

The Leddar IS16 sensor has a 45-degree field of vision that produces infrared LED light pulses, with a rapid acquisition rate and a detection range up to 50 metres, with a weather-resistant enclosure.

The sensor market is estimated to be worth approximately $15 billion today, and is obviously set to grow as the Internet of Things gradually comes on-line. Leddar, with its strong patent portfolio, is well-positioned to capitalize on this expanding market.

Founded in 2007, LeddarTech was spun out of Quebec’s Institut national d’optique. One of their initial products, the d-tec traffic management system, is now widely used on roadways due to its ease and low cost of installation.

The company, which has 25 employees, raised $2.5 million last year, also through BDC Venture and GO Capital, with an assist from iSource Accès Capital and Desjardins Innovatech.