Velodyne Lidar Inc. shares surged nearly 60% in late trading after Amazon.com Inc. acquired warrants that could lead to a small stake in the auto-sensor maker.
Velodyne agreed to issue to Amazon a warrant to acquire more than 39 million shares or as much as 5%, according to a filing; the warrant shares will vest over time as Amazon makes payments to Velodyne.
Velodyne is one of several startups that have gone public in the past two years by merging with so-called blank check companies, known as special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.
It’s the latest example of Amazon investing in its business partners in order to benefit from upside associated with the relationship. Amazon in March invested $131 million for a minority stake of air cargo operator Air Transport Services Group Inc. On Thursday, Amazon announced its 2019 investment in electric automaker Rivian Automotive Inc. contributed an $11.8 billion net income gain in the quarter ended Dec. 31. Rivian had its initial public offering in November.
Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, is a key technology as many of the the world’s leading automakers, tech companies and startups race to make fully autonomous cars a reality. Lidar uses lasers to build a three-dimensional image of the surrounding landscape, which is critical to how the vehicle perceives the environment, predicts the behavior of pedestrians and other vehicles, and plans how to safely navigate.