Aeva Inc., a startup that develops lidar-based technology for autonomous vehicles, said Monday that the amount it plans to raise when it goes public via a “blank-check” merger planned later this year has increased by $200 million.

A Hong Kong-based hedge fund called Sylebra Capital Management will invest that amount into Aeva, bringing the total proceeds it will raise when it starts trading to about $560 million.

Aeva said in November it plans to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company called InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. SPACs are entities that are created for the sole purpose of buying another firm and taking it public. SPACs give startups a way to list on the stock market that bypass the traditional initial public offering process, and have become quite popular in recent times.

Aeva plans to complete its merger with InterPrivate and start trading on the New York Stock Exchange during the first quarter.

The company, which was founded by former Apple Inc. engineers Soroush Salehian and Mina Rezk, builds sensors that blend lidar with radar and video cameras to give self-driving cars a three-dimensional view of the road and a better view of their surroundings. Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure the distance between two objects.

The sensors can detect the speed of distant objects and distinguish other vehicles and pedestrians from stationary objects. Perhaps the most appealing thing about Aeva’s sensor is that it doesn’t rely on powerful lasers or exotic materials. As a result, the company’s sensors are both cheaper to make, and smaller than similar lidar products.

Lidar also has applications in consumer devices such as Apple’s new iPhones and in industrial robots, so the company could potentially branch out into new verticals in future.

Aeva, which remains unprofitable, has projected a pro forma valuation of about $3 billion once it starts trading.

Salehian said Sylebra’s commitment to the company will help to increase confidence in his company’s business model and growth plans ahead of its public debut.

“Proceeds from this investment will further accelerate our ability to capitalize on customer demand for Aeva’s industry-leading 4D lidar-on-a-chip technology in the automotive, consumer, and industrial markets,” Salehian said.

Photo: Aeva