perception-software
(4)
MicroVision, Inc.
MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS) is a Redmond, Washington-based developer of lidar and perception technology built on more than three decades of MEMS laser beam scanning. Once known for pico-projection and its PicoP scanning engine used in consumer displays, the company has pivoted to become a supplier of automotive-grade and industrial lidar sensors - the MAVIN and MOVIA lines - plus perception software, targeting ADAS, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and a fast-growing security and defense business.
Owl Autonomous Imaging
Owl Autonomous Imaging (Owl AI) builds Monocular 3D Thermal Ranging cameras and AI perception software that let vehicles and machines see people, animals and obstacles in total darkness, blinding glare, fog, rain and snow. Founded in 2018 by Chuck Gershman and Gene Petilli, the Fairport, New York company pairs its own HD long-wave infrared focal plane array with thermal CNNs to deliver both classification and distance from a single passive camera - aimed at pedestrian automatic emergency braking, ADAS and defense.
Luminar Technologies
Luminar Technologies is an automotive lidar and perception company founded by teenage Thiel Fellow Austin Russell. It built 1550nm lidar sensors and software designed to give passenger cars, trucks and robotaxis long-range, high-resolution sight in the dark, winning production deals with Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Polestar and partnerships with NVIDIA and Mobileye. After a 2020 SPAC debut at a roughly $3.4B valuation, mounting losses, a 2025 CEO ethics inquiry that removed Russell, and the loss of its anchor Volvo contract pushed the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2025.
Bonsai Robotics
Bonsai Robotics is a San Jose-based agricultural autonomy company that builds vision-first AI systems for off-road farm equipment. Founded in 2022 by veterans of Blue River Technology and John Deere, the company's Intelligence Platform combines embedded autonomy software with retrofittable hardware kits to let existing and new farm machinery operate with minimal human input - even in GPS-denied fields, at night, and in heavy dust. With $28.5M raised and its July 2025 acquisition of farm-ng, Bonsai is expanding from specialty-crop orchards into bedded-crop row farming and modular electric robot platforms.