Ouster Inc., a startup building lidar sensors out of laser-emitting chips, today announced it’s going public through a special-purpose acquisition company called Colonnade Acquisition Corp. in a deal that values the company at $1.9 billion.

SPACs are entities that are created for the sole purpose of buying another firm and taking it public. They’re becoming a growingly popular way to take a startup public without going through a traditional initial public offering. According to Reuters, Ouster will be the fifth lidar manufacturer this year to agree to use a SPAC merger, following Velodyne Lidar Inc., Luminar Technologies Inc., Innoviz Technologies Ltd. and Aeva Inc.

Founded in 2015 and out of stealth mode with funding of $27 million in 2017, Ouster designs and builds lidar sensors that are used in autonomous vehicles, robotics, drones, mapping, defense and security systems. Lidar is a method of mapping an environment by directing laser pulses onto nearby objects and collecting the light that bounces back. That light is then used to create a detailed three-dimensional map that’s constantly updated.

Lidar startups are a dime a dozen, but where Ouster differs is with its choice of laser wavelength. The company’s lasers pulse at a frequency of 850 nanometers, which is claimed to deliver superior imaging.

Under the SPAC merger, Ouster expects to earn proceeds of up to $300 million from the deal. The company projected revenue of about $19 million in 2020. Although that’s not a large revenue figure, Finbold noted that compared with other companies in the market, Ouster is among the few actually generating revenue, a key reason that attracted Colonnade.

Colonnade went public in an IPO in August raising $200 million. To seal the deal with Ouster, Colonnade has raised $100 million more from investors that included Cox Automotive, Fontinalis Partners and WWJ Enterprises.

Ouster has raised $132 million in funding, according to Crunchbase, including rounds of $60 million in March 2019 and $42 million in September. Investors include Runway Growth Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Cox Automotive, Tao Capital Partners, Fontinalis Partners, Carthona Capital, Amity Ventures and Constellation Technology Ventures.

Photo: Ouster