TD Cowen advises Silicon Radar on the sale to Indie Semiconductor

TD Cowen is pleased to announce that Silicon Radar GmbH has been successfully sold to indie Semiconductor (Nasdaq: INDI). Silicon Radar is a German-based specialist in advanced, highly integrated radio frequency system-on-chips (SoCs) for automotive radar applications, and indie Semiconductor is an innovator of automotive technology solutions headquartered in California, USA.

Radar is a fundamental sensing modality for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and automotive safety applications. The growing number of radars per vehicle requires high-performance and highly integrated semiconductors. These can support the ever-increasing operating frequencies with the lowest power consumption while satisfying the ever-increasing demand for resolution in both external and in-cabin radar systems. In this regard, the radar industry is currently moving toward 120 GHz (in-cabin sensing) and 140 GHz (external sensing). These higher frequencies enable the use of antenna-on-chip techniques, significantly raising the integration levels, and make it possible to create products with a complete radar on a chip. It vastly simplifies PCB design and dramatically reduces costs, especially for in-cabin Occupant Monitoring Systems (OMS). Furthermore, it opens significant new market areas.

The growing demand in the high frequency range is covered by Silicon Radar. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, the company specializes in semiconductor design of 60 GHz, 120 GHz and 140 GHz high-frequency circuits for radar, sensors and wireless communications. With an innovative team of 14 experienced mixed-signal SoC and system designers, Silicon Radar has developed 10 radar-related patents and has previously worked closely with indie in co-developing radar solutions for emerging radar applications, including 120 GHz and 140 GHz frequencies. indie focuses on edge sensors spanning multiple modalities, including radar, LiDAR, ultrasound and computer vision for e.g. ADAS  and which form the basis for electric and autonomous vehicles.

For Anja Bölicke, CEO of Silicon Radar, the acquisition by indie is the decisive step after the already existing long-standing partnership “to now formally join forces. By combining our core technologies with indie’s global sales channels and demonstrated scalability, we can accelerate our time-to-market and better capitalize on the global radar market opportunities. Together, we can enable more cost-effective solutions for precise detection of position, distance and velocity to allow safer mobility across a range of applications.”

Donald McClymont, co-founder and CEO of indie, added, “indie’s acquisition of Silicon Radar furthers our technology leadership in automotive radar applications, particularly with the industry’s first production-ready 120 GHz solution, and immediately extends our capabilities with the addition of a world-class design team in Europe.”

According to IHS, 138 million radar electronic control units (ECUs) will ship in 2023, supporting short-, medium- and long-term applications such as interior surveillance, blind side detection, parking assist and automatic emergency braking. By 2028, the market is expected to more than double to 293 million units, representing a $6 billion opportunity for radar semiconductors.