Sense Photonics

# High-Level Overview

Sense Photonics is a solid-state flash LiDAR technology company that designs and manufactures high-performance 3D sensing systems for autonomous vehicles, robotics, and industrial automation.[1][2] The company builds custom digital LiDAR sensors with no moving parts, enabling vehicles and robots to perceive their environment with high accuracy and reliability. Sense Photonics solves a critical problem in autonomous systems: delivering affordable, high-resolution 3D vision that works reliably in diverse lighting conditions and can be manufactured at scale for mass-market adoption.

The company achieved significant growth momentum before its acquisition, signing development agreements with major automotive OEMs and demonstrating technology that could accelerate the autonomous vehicle industry's timeline to production.[5] In October 2021, Ouster acquired Sense Photonics and established Ouster Automotive, a dedicated division focused on bringing solid-state digital LiDAR to consumer and commercial vehicles.[1][4]

# Origin Story

Sense Photonics was founded in 2016 by CEO Scott Burroughs, Chief Commercial Officer Russell Kanjorski, and Founding Scientist Brent Fisher—three engineers who previously worked together at a solar power company in the Research Triangle Park area.[2] Their background in semiconductor manufacturing and photonics proved directly applicable to designing custom laser emitters on curved substrates. The founding team raised more than $5 million in just nine months, establishing headquarters at Frontier RTP in North Carolina.[2]

The company's origin reflects a pragmatic pivot: when the solar company wound down, the trio merged their expertise and interest in the autonomous vehicle market to create Sense. Scott Burroughs had the initial concept for low-cost, high-performance LiDAR technology, Russell developed the business strategy, and Brent—an MIT Ph.D.—provided the scientific foundation for the technology.[2] By 2019, the company had relocated to a hybrid lab-office facility within Research Triangle Park and had already accumulated 200 patents protecting its technology.[2]

# Core Differentiators

• Custom laser emitter design: Sense's proprietary VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) costs approximately one-hundredth of commercially available alternatives, dramatically reducing system cost while maintaining performance.[2][5]

• Solid-state architecture with no moving parts: Unlike traditional mechanical LiDAR systems, Sense's flash LiDAR design eliminates moving components, improving reliability and maintenance requirements for automotive applications.[1][2]

• Advanced interference mitigation: The system includes built-in interference suppression, enabling multiple LiDAR units to operate simultaneously without degrading performance—critical for multi-sensor autonomous vehicle configurations.[3]

• High dynamic range (HDR) imaging: Sense's sensors can accurately detect low-reflectivity objects (10% reflectivity) in bright sunlight (100% illumination), using a 940nm wavelength optimized for outdoor automotive use.[3]

• Flexible sensor architecture: By separating the laser emitter from the receiver, Sense enables easier integration into vehicle designs and supports indirect time-of-flight (ITOF) sensing with 100,000 pixels per frame and RGB camera fusion.[3][5]

• Digital SPAD array technology: Sense designed its own Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays and custom ASICs, representing years of specialized engineering investment that competitors struggle to replicate.[5]

# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Sense Photonics operates at the intersection of two transformative trends: the race toward autonomous vehicles and the shift from mechanical to solid-state sensor architectures. The automotive industry faces a critical bottleneck—existing LiDAR solutions are either too expensive for mass production or insufficiently reliable for safety-critical applications. Sense's technology directly addresses this gap by combining affordability with the durability and performance requirements of vehicle manufacturers.[5]

The timing proved advantageous: as major automotive OEMs accelerated autonomous driving programs and regulatory frameworks began clarifying L2+ autonomy requirements, demand for production-ready LiDAR solutions intensified. Sense's development agreements with major global automakers positioned the company as a credible supplier capable of meeting 2025-2026 production timelines.[5] The acquisition by Ouster—itself a leader in digital LiDAR for non-automotive applications—created a vertically integrated powerhouse capable of serving both consumer vehicles and industrial robotics markets, amplifying Sense's influence across the broader autonomous systems ecosystem.[4][5]

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

Sense Photonics' integration into Ouster Automotive represents a strategic consolidation of digital LiDAR expertise at a pivotal moment. The planned acceleration of solid-state LiDAR roadmaps by 12+ months and the development of a 200-meter range sensor suggest the combined entity is positioned to deliver breakthrough automotive solutions ahead of competitors still relying on mechanical architectures.[5] As autonomous vehicle adoption accelerates and cost pressures intensify, Sense's custom silicon approach and manufacturing efficiency will likely become increasingly valuable—potentially influencing industry-wide adoption of solid-state LiDAR as the standard for next-generation vehicles.

The company's trajectory from a bootstrapped startup to a core component of a major LiDAR provider underscores how specialized semiconductor expertise and deep automotive partnerships can create defensible competitive advantages in the autonomous systems market.