Lidar developer Cepton Technologies is to relocate its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California, to accommodate ongoing expansion. The relocation comes as Cepton celebrates its fifth anniversary and on the back of what the company claims to be the largest advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) lidar series production award in the industry. A Detroit-based OEM is expected to deploy Cepton lidars in its next generation of ADAS across multiple vehicle classes and models – not just luxury cars. This, says Cepton, will be an industry-first, mass-market adoption of lidar technology for automotive ADAS, with an anticipated deployment in consumer vehicles starting in 2023.
Cepton achieved the series production win in partnership with Koito Manufacturing, an automotive lighting Tier 1 supplier that is a Cepton partner and investor. Koito has been granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture a version of Cepton’s MMT-based Vista-X90 automotive-grade lidar using key components and technologies from Cepton.
The new headquarters will have more than double the footprint of the company’s previous facility and includes 8,547m2 of mixed-use space for research and development, manufacturing and testing, as well as corporate offices. The relocation is the culmination of a recruitment drive that has been underway since early 2020, with a 65% increase in team size as the company ramps up innovation and product development.
“When I co-founded Cepton five years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined us growing so fast and achieving so many impressive milestones within such a short time,” said Mark McCord, CTO and co-founder of Cepton. “The business success we achieved has motivated us to further advance our lidar innovation. I am very proud that we have built one of the best lidar teams in the industry but our thirst for talent will never cease. With the new headquarters, we’re ready to welcome more aspiring professionals who share our vision of making lidar an essential sensor in every vehicle and smart system.”