Full Press Release:

SYDNEY - November 8, 2019

Baraja Pty Ltd, developers of Spectrum-Scan™ LiDAR, today announces partnership with Manica, Inc., a $5B global leader in the distribution of high-technology products.

The two companies have signed an agreement to bring Baraja's innovative LiDAR platform to Japan's automotive OEMs, and to partners on vehicle automation opportunities in the Japanese market across a range of industries including trains, delivery vehicles, construction, and heavy machinery.

Baraja’s Spectrum-Scan™ LiDAR allows autonomous vehicles to sense their environment in richer detail than ever before, with unprecedented software-addressable resolution and range. In addition to performance, the technology enables an industrialized design that supports automotive requirements for reliability, scalability & manufacturability. Complemented by unique capabilities such as inherent immunity to interference and full software-based control of scan patterns, Baraja’s LiDAR has been specifically developed to address autonomous driving’s long-term challenges.

For over 40 years, Macnica has been a leading global semiconductor distributor and value-add service provider and has recently commenced supplying the smart mobility industry. This expanded market focus is a part of a comprehensive strategy that will see Macnica evolve from a hardware product distributor to provider of complete ecosystems for autonomous vehicles. The addition of Baraja’s LiDAR to Macnica’s integrated offering further cements this strategic position.

Macnica has enjoyed a very fruitful collaboration with Baraja and we look forward to continued partnership on the road to large-scale commercialization of these key technologies in the autonomous vehicle industry. The rapid development of autonomous driving has ignited huge demand for LiDAR. Baraja's unique technology positions us perfectly to deliver immense value to our customers," says Atsushi Sato, Executive Officer from Macnica Fuji Electronics Holding, Inc.

“Working with Macnica is a major step toward driving further market tractions for Baraja’s LiDAR in Japan,” says Federico Collarte, Founder & CEO of Baraja. “We have worked closely with the Macnica team and are impressed with their strong customer relationships, the level of their technical expertise and resources that will support both current and future customers. The expanded partnership opens up many new opportunities, which we look forward to pursuing together," says Collarte.

This strategic agreement represents the initial phase of the business alliance. The companies said they will continue to explore areas for further growth as part of a long-term partnership.

About Macnica, Inc.

Since it was established in 1972, Macnica has provided leading-edge semiconductors, electronic devices, networks and cyber security products with high value-added technology. More recently, Macnica has been actively developing new businesses in the fields of AI, IoT, automated driving and robotics, based on its strength in global sourcing and strategic planning for world-leading technologies. With its slogan "Co.Tomorrowing", Macnica connects leading-edge technologies with ‘Macnica’ intelligence to provide unique services and solutions, *creating social value and contributing to the betterment of future societies. Headquartered in Yokohama, Macnica’s global business spans 23 countries and 80 locations worldwide. For more information, please visit https://www.macnica.co.jp/en/

About Baraja Pty Ltd

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Sydney, Baraja began its work on a breakthrough LiDAR technique in the garage of Founder & CEO Federico Collarte. Federico and his Co-Founder & CTO Cibby Pulikkaseril created an elegant solution to the complex problems facing legacy LiDAR systems that give vision to self-driving vehicles. Their Spectrum-Scan™ approach address scalability, reliability, vehicle integration and performance issues that legacy LiDAR technologies cannot. Baraja, backed by Sequoia China, Blackbird Ventures and Main Sequence Ventures’ CSIRO Innovation Fund, has 95 employees and has offices in Sydney, San Francisco and Shanghai.