About Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics is a Technology company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2016, and was acquired by Ouster in October 2021. Solid-state LiDAR sensors are developed for automotive and industrial uses. It operates in the Technology and Transportation, Automotive & Logistics sectors. Sense Photonics has raised $106.92 million across 8 funding rounds from investors including Ouster, Shell and Scottish Enterprise. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Shauna McIntyre. The company was acqui-hired. Its focus areas include Semiconductors, Sensors, Generic Sensor Developers and Positioning & Motion. Its competitors include Luminar Technologies, Ouster and Cepton; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Sense Photonics was founded in 2016 in San Francisco, United States, where solid-state LiDAR sensors are developed for automotive and industrial sectors. Proprietary laser arrays, modular architecture, interference mitigation, and 3D depth-sensing technologies are employed to construct Flash LiDARs. Entire scenes are illuminated, with depths and intensity data captured per pixel simultaneously across the full field-of-view. Operations focus on sensor solutions for perception in vehicles and machinery.
- Headquarters San Francisco, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsTechnologyTransportation, Automotive & Logistics
- Email••••••••
- Website sensephotonics.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Acquired by Ouster (Oct 2021)
Funding Insights of Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics has successfully raised a total of $106.92M across 8 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $61.65 thousand completed in December 2019. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $106.92M
- Total Rounds 8
- Last Round Series A — $61,650
- First Round $5M
(Jun 2017)
- Investors Count 8
All 8 funding rounds of Sense Photonics with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2019 | $61,650 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Jul 2019 | $2.41M | Grant | – | – | |
| Jun 2019 | $26.02M | Series A | – | – | – |
| May 2019 | $26.02M | Series A | – | Acadia Woods, Congruent Ventures | |
| Oct 2018 | $14.42M | Series A | – | – | – |
| Sep 2018 | $32.11M | Series A | – | – | – |
| Aug 2017 | $3.28M | Seed | – | – | – |
| Jun 2017 | $5M | Seed | – | – | – |
9 investors in total: 9 institutional.
Investors in Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics has secured backing from 9 investors, including institutional and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Ouster, Shell and Scottish Enterprise.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Climate tech investing and support for early-stage entrepreneurs in North America. | congruentvc.com | |||
Climate companies are invested in by this venture capital firm. | preludeventures.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Early-stage startups in emerging technologies are funded by Hemi Ventures. | 2019 | hemi.vc | Palo Alto, United States | |
Early-stage startups are targeted for investment by this VC firm. | ipdcapital.com | Aventura, United States | ||
Investments are directed toward semiconductors, telecommunications, software, and medical sectors. | samsungventures.com | Seoul, South Korea | ||
Business development and leadership training programs are offered to companies. | 1991 | scottish-enterprise.com | Glasgow, United Kingdom | |
| acadiawoodsinc.com | ||||
Shell is recognized as a global energy and petrochemical company. | 1907 | shell.com | London, United Kingdom | |
Developer of LiDAR-based sensors | 2002 | ouster.com | San Francisco, United States |
Investor details for Sense Photonics
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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People of Sense Photonics
13 people are tracked at Sense Photonics (6 in leadership, 5 in board & advisors, 2 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Shauna McIntyre | CEO | Leadership |
Robert Henderson | Chief Science Officer | Leadership |
Scott Burroughs | President & Chief Innovation Officer | Leadership |
Dan Miller | CFO | Leadership |
Jim Carter | VP, VCSEL Engineering & Process Development | Leadership |
Iain Levy | VP, Automotive | Leadership |
Niel Ransom | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Brent Fisher | Founding Scientist | Board & advisors |
Gabe Sibley | Advisor & Board Member | Board & advisors |
John A. Rogers | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Russ Kanjorski | Co-Founder | Board & advisors |
Anurag Gupta | SVP, Engineering | Team |
Mark Sandoval | SVP, Product, Partnerships & Operations | Team |
Complete people profiles for Sense Photonics
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Timeline of Sense Photonics
4 dated milestones of Sense Photonics across 5 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Sense Photonics is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $5.0M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series A, of $62K.
- Exit Acquired by Ouster.
Competitors of Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Luminar Technologies, Ouster and Cepton.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| luminartech.com | 2012 | Orlando, United States | $306M | 800 | LiDAR-based sensors for autonomous vehicles are developed. | |
| ouster.com | 2002 | San Francisco, United States | $129M | 217 | Developer of LiDAR-based sensors | |
| cepton.com | 2012 | San Francisco, United States | $50M | 103 | LiDAR-based positioning sensors for autonomous applications are developed. |
Detailed competitors of Sense Photonics
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Top companies in Sensors & Smart Devices
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Sense Photonics (Sensors & Smart Devices) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Smart fitness equipment and streaming platforms are provided. | 2011 | New York, New York, United States | USD 995.53 M | USD 2.45 B | 2,894 | |
VR-based head-mounted displays for gaming are provided by Oculus. | 2012 | Menlo Park, California, United States | USD 107.05 M | |||
Cloud-based business telephony and home security services are provided. | 2004 | Palo Alto, California, United States | USD 87.97 M | USD 273.6 M | 1,190 |
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Related news about Sense Photonics
Complete news archive for Sense Photonics
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Frequently Asked Questions about Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics was founded in 2016 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Sense Photonics is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Shauna McIntyre is the CEO of Sense Photonics, as recorded in our data.
Sense Photonics is a funded company, having raised a total of $106.92M across 8 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $5M, raised on Jun 2017.
Sense Photonics was founded in 2016 in San Francisco, United States, where solid-state LiDAR sensors are developed for automotive and industrial sectors. Proprietary laser arrays, modular architecture, interference mitigation, and 3D depth-sensing technologies are employed to construct Flash LiDARs. Entire scenes are illuminated, with depths and intensity data captured per pixel simultaneously across the full field-of-view. Operations focus on sensor solutions for perception in vehicles and machinery.
Sense Photonics's top competitors include Ouster, Luminar Technologies and Cepton.
Sense Photonics has 9 investors. Key investors include Ouster, Shell, Scottish Enterprise, Acadia Woods, and Congruent Ventures.
Yes. Sense Photonics was acquired by Ouster in October 2021.