Metawave secures additional $26M In convertible and debt financing to accelerate delivery of mobility sensing solutions

Metawave, a world leader in high-end sensing and perception solutions for terrestrial and aerospace mobility applications, announced that it has secured $26M in convertible and debt financing. A prelude to a forthcoming Series B funding, this interim financing round will be used to deliver the Metawave MARCONI^™ 77GHz and POLARIS^™ 24GHz product lines – the mobility industry’s first beamformer chip and antenna module solutions to address the increased demands for long-range Aerial sensing and Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) to detect vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians, and other objects at longer range with high resolution and accuracy. To date, Metawave has raised over $60M in funding from financial and strategic investors.

Specifically, Metawave is enhancing imaging radar by simultaneously combining its steerable front-end solutions with advanced MIMO virtual array algorithms to meet increasing demand for long-range, all-weather sensing and perception including motorcycle detection beyond 300m during unprotective left turns, and rear-view radars for autonomous trucks. competing radars operate either at low-resolution, long-range or high-resolution, mid-range modes. Metawave’s long-range mode includes high-resolution imaging in both horizontal and vertical directions. To further speed market adoption of Metawave’s technology, the company’s chip and antenna modules are compatible with the long-range imaging Carson and Triton radar system platforms so that customers can test and implement complete perception sensing solutions quickly to meet aggressive car OEM timelines.

“Two centuries ago, Charles Darwin said ‘it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.’ Startups with critical technologies like ours who can also get creative with how technology development is funded, will come out triumphant,” said Metawave CEO and founder, Maha Achour. “This innovative bridge financing allows us to accelerate the development of crucial radar safety features and get them in the hands of ground, defense, and aerial mobility system developers to meet their target long-range performance, size, and cost metrics. The market opportunity for Metawave’s products continues to be very attractive.”

“Metawave’s push to deliver its disruptive radar-based perception technology, buoyed by this new financing, comes at an ideal time for market adoption,” said Cédric Malaquin, Team Lead Analyst, RF Devices & Technology at Yole Intelligence part of Yole Group. “During 2020 and 2021, radar suppliers launched their 5th-generation radars. Modern automotive radar sensors inherit from a longstanding evolution cycle. Up to now, the upgrades mainly focused on cost and form factor optimization, which explains the trend towards integration that the industry has pursued. Imaging radar drives the next growth wave and will reach US$4.3 billion by 2027, equating to 30% of the total radar market (1).”

“As investors and industry observers, we continue to be very excited about the positive impact that Metawave’s disruptive solutions are making in the multi-billion-dollar mobility sensing market,” said Astro Perkins General Partner, Scott Amyx. “The transportation and aerospace sectors represent a huge opportunity for the company’s radar-based offerings that bring an unprecedented level of perception capabilities and safety to autonomous vehicles and systems.”

“Metawave is not another conventional startup,” said Black Dolphin General Partner, Greg Zilberstein. “Their stellar core team is delivering radar technology breakthroughs with unmatched range and point-cloud resolution in all weather conditions to fill the existing critical gap in automotive and aerial sensor suite.”