Press Release

ZEISS venture with Bridger Photonics

20 December 2018

OBERKOCHEN, BOZEMAN/Montana/USA | 20 December 2018 | Corporate News

The internationally leading technology enterprise in the fields of optics and optoelectronics, ZEISS, is the sole minority investor of the round. Bridger Photonics, Inc., a Montana-based company founded in 2006, providing precision LiDAR solutions to enable new capabilities and improved efficiency for industrial sensor applications, has closed its Series A funding round in November 2018.

The purpose of the investment is to enable Bridger to develop and commercialize a broadened set of addressable applications for its leading FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) LiDAR technology: “We are thrilled to join forces with ZEISS. The investment by ZEISS enables us to pursue targeted business development for our core markets such as Industrial Metrology and aerial surveillance for Oil & Gas, and Energy Infrastructure. Leveraging the broader assets and network of the ZEISS Group, we will also explore additional applications in advanced sensing and quality control”, says Pete Roos, President and CEO of Bridger Photonics, Inc.

Bridger Photonics LiDAR solutions for aircrafts and drones

In going beyond conventional LiDAR technology, the FMCW approach has the ability to measure not only distances to objects in the plus 100-meter range with high precision and low power, but also relative velocities. Reliable generation and software processing of these kinds of 3D maps of sensor data are believed to be key enablers for a variety of mapping and navigation tasks in the industrial domain.

For ZEISS the investment is a further part of its venture strategy to promote market-shaping business models with innovative partners, especially in the areas of digital twins and simulations. Philipp Strack, Head of ZEISS Ventures, explains: “We are very excited to support Bridger’s journey. We believe now is a good time for Bridger Photonics and the entire team to seize the opportunity for growth, as many complementary technology building blocks, such as Nanostructured Optics and Machine Learning, are now achieving maturity and adoption in the market”.

Both partners have agreed not to disclose the extent of the investment.

Further information:

ZEISS Ventures

Press contact Jörg Nitschke

Head of Corporate Brand, Communications and Public Affairs
ZEISS Group

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling more than 5.8 billion euros in its four segments Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (status: 30 September 2018).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future far beyond the optics and optoelectronics industries. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership.

Today the ZEISS Group is represented in almost 50 countries. About 30,000 employees worldwide work at around 60 sales and service locations, more than 30 production sites and about 25 research and development facilities. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG

Further information at www.zeiss.com

About Bridger Photonics,Inc.

Bridger Photonics provides coherent LiDAR solutions to enable improved efficiency and advanced capabilities for industrial metrology and oil and gas applications.

Founded in 2006, Bridger was listed by Inc. magazine as the fastest growing private US engineering company in 2011 and has been a regular and successful participant in other small business development and recognition programs since then.

Further information at www.bridgerphotonics.com