What Happened to Innoviz Technologies?

Innoviz Technologies was founded in 2016 in Israel by former members of the Israeli Defense Forces' elite intelligence unit. The company developed solid-state LiDAR sensors for autonomous vehicles, competing in a crowded field of SPAC-era LiDAR companies.

Innoviz merged with Collective Growth Corp in April 2021. The company's key differentiator was a production agreement with BMW to supply LiDAR sensors for the automaker's autonomous driving features, starting with the BMW iX. This gave Innoviz more credibility than many LiDAR peers.

However, BMW's autonomous driving timeline slipped, and LiDAR integration into production vehicles proceeded more slowly than expected. The broader autonomous vehicle industry faced regulatory hurdles and technical challenges that pushed mass-market adoption years into the future.

Innoviz has survived longer than many LiDAR SPACs (Velodyne and Quanergy went bankrupt), partly thanks to the BMW relationship and careful cash management. But the stock has still lost over 85% of its value, reflecting the reality that the LiDAR revenue opportunity remains years away from materializing at scale.