That nagging deja vu feeling kept creeping in earlier this month during CES 2023 in Las Vegas.
At every turn, in the newly constructed West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and even amid the crowded startup grinder at Eureka Park, was a company pitching lidar sensor technology.
That might not have been so remarkable in 2017 or 2018. But it’s 2023.
The peak of the hype cycle, when hundreds of millions of dollars were thrown into lidar startups, is a distant glint in the rearview mirror. The industry went through the business model pivot phase and rode the special purpose acquisition mergers wave in a pursuit of capital that public markets can provide.
How could ...
