Ouster Signs Strategic Agreement with Vecna Robotics as Material Handling Automation Accelerates

Rhea-AI Summary

Ouster, Inc. announces a strategic agreement with Vecna Robotics to supply approximately 3,000 digital lidar sensors by 2025. This partnership aims to enhance warehouse and logistics automation in response to growing customer demand.

Vecna plans to integrate Ouster’s lidar technology into its autonomous material handling equipment, improving navigation and safety in dynamic environments. This move highlights a significant opportunity in the $2.5 billion industrial lidar market, as current automation levels in material handling remain below 1%.

Positive

• Strategic agreement with Vecna Robotics to deliver approximately 3,000 digital lidar sensors, enhancing revenue potential.
• Opportunity to capture demand in the $2.5 billion industrial lidar market by 2025.
• Application of lidar technology will improve automation in warehouse logistics, addressing current supply chain challenges.

Negative

• None.

Ouster to deliver approximately 3,000 digital lidar sensors to Vecna Robotics through 2025 to help meet demand for warehouse and logistics automation

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ouster, Inc. (NYSE: OUST) (“Ouster” or the “Company”), a leading provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors, announced today that it has signed a strategic customer agreement with Vecna Robotics, an intelligent material handling automation company. The agreement includes a non-binding forecast for approximately three thousand OS digital lidar sensors through 2025 as Vecna Robotics scales production to meet increasing customer demand for warehouse and logistics automation.

Vecna's autonomous pallet truck equipped with an Ouster digital lidar sensor at CES 2022. (Photo: Business Wire)

Vecna Robotics plans to fuse Ouster lidar into its multi-sensor autonomy stack to equip self-driving pallet trucks, tow tractors, and lift trucks for high-capacity material handling operations. The lidar helps the system confidently navigate dynamic environments, safely detect and avoid obstacles while working alongside human operations and manually driven vehicles, and intelligently map its path through real-time topological reasoning.

“We completed an exhaustive evaluation of all 3D lidar sensors on the market and found the Ouster OS0 to be our strong favorite,” said Zachary Dydek,​ Chief Technology Officer at Vecna Robotics. “We believe Ouster’s best-in-class customer service and proven scalability will enable Vecna Robotics to meet customer demand for high-volume production and further extend our technology leadership in the industrial AMR space.”

Vecna Robotics works with some of the world’s leading distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing companies to alleviate global supply chain challenges through automated solutions that increase throughput and efficiency in material handling. Manufacturing and logistics companies rely on over four million human operators to move nearly two billion pallets in the U.S. each day and approximately five billion pallets worldwide. Currently, less than one percent of material handling vehicles are automated, representing a significant opportunity to capture demand for warehouse automation within the $2.5 billion total addressable market (TAM) estimated for the industrial lidar market by 2025.

“Warehouse and logistics automation is critical to improving supply chain operations. Businesses are facing unprecedented shipping delays, labor shortages, and price inflation – and the demand to safely automate key aspects of the value chain is only accelerating,” said Ouster CEO Angus Pacala. “We are excited to partner with Vecna Robotics as they scale to serve the market opportunity for intelligent material handling equipment.”

About Vecna Robotics

Vecna Robotics is an award-winning flexible intelligent material handling automation company with solutions engineered for seamless work between autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and the labor, equipment, facilities, and systems that make business go. Our self-driving fork trucks, pallet trucks, and tuggers –– powered by proprietary Pivotal™ orchestration software and our 24/7/365 command center –– help distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing organizations automate their most critical workflows, maximize throughput and scale operations fast. For more information, visit www.vecnarobotics.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Ouster

Ouster (NYSE: OUST) is building a safer and more sustainable future through its high-resolution digital lidar sensors for the automotive, industrial, smart infrastructure, and robotics industries. Ouster’s sensors offer an excellent combination of price and performance with the flexibility to span hundreds of use-cases and enable revolutionary autonomy across industries. With a global team and high-volume manufacturing, Ouster supports approximately 600 customers in over 50 countries. Ouster is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.ouster.com, or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding Ouster’s strategic partnerships, its ability to meet supply requirements, the scalability of its production, and its strategy and market positioning. Forward-looking statements give Ouster’s current expectations and projections relating to its financial condition, competitive position, future results of operations, plans, objectives, future orders and business. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, “forecast”, “intend”, “believe”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “can have”, “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected, including: Ouster’s limited operating history and history of losses; the negotiating power and product standards of its customers; fluctuations in its operating results; cancellation or postponement of contracts or unsuccessful implementations; the adoption of its products and the growth of the lidar market generally; its ability to grow its sales and marketing organization; substantial research and development costs needed to develop and commercialize new products; the competitive environment in which it operates; selection of its products for inclusion in target markets; its future capital needs; its ability to use tax attributes; its dependence on key third party suppliers, in particular Benchmark Electronics, Inc., and manufacturers; ability to maintain inventory and the risk of inventory write-downs; inaccurate forecasts of market growth; its ability to manage growth; the creditworthiness of customers; risks related to acquisitions; risks related to international operations; risks of product delivery problems or defects; costs associated with product warranties; its ability to maintain competitive average selling prices or high sales volumes or reduce product costs; conditions in its customers industries; its ability to recruit and retain key personnel; its use of professional employer organizations; its ability to adequately protect and enforce its intellectual property rights; its ability to effectively respond to evolving regulations and standards; risks related to operating as a public company; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic; and other important factors discussed in the Company’s final prospectus dated August 19, 2021, and in other reports the Company files with or furnishes to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s reasonable estimates and beliefs as of the date of this press release. While Ouster may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it disclaims any obligation to do so, other than as required by law, even if subsequent events cause its views to change.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220111005784/en/

Ouster:

For Investors

Sarah Ewing

investors@ouster.io

For Media

Heather Shapiro

press@ouster.io

Vecna:

Nicole Rosenberg

vecnarobotics@famapr.com

Source: Ouster, Inc.

FAQ

What is the strategic agreement between Ouster and Vecna Robotics?

Ouster has signed a strategic agreement to deliver approximately 3,000 digital lidar sensors to Vecna Robotics by 2025.

How will Ouster's lidar sensors impact warehouse automation?

The lidar sensors will enhance navigation and safety for autonomous material handling vehicles, improving efficiency in logistics.

What is the market potential for Ouster's lidar sensors?

The industrial lidar market is estimated to be around $2.5 billion by 2025, providing significant growth opportunities.

What challenges are driving the demand for Ouster's technology?

Businesses are facing shipping delays, labor shortages, and price inflation, increasing the demand for warehouse automation.