Garmin Acquires Optical Measurement Company PulsedLight

Acquisitions are often made to speed up the time to market of a type of technology or to acquire a patent. This appears to be at least partly the case with Garmin’s announcement today of its acquisition of PulsedLight.

PulsedLight make low power, compact, high performance OPTICAL distance measurement sensors.

This type of technology is useful for robotics and drones. But possibly also useful for proximity warning meters for cars/cycles.

Now you know.

—- Press Release ——-

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland & BEND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) today announced that its subsidiary, Garmin International, Inc., has completed its acquisition of PulsedLight, Inc., a privately-held designer of optical distance measurement technology located in Bend, Oregon.

The company makes sensor boards that are highly accurate, smaller, and more lightweight, compared to most other optical distance measurement devices. PulsedLight developed and owns the intellectual property that enables this technology.

“Optical distance measurement technology fits in nicely with Garmin’s core competencies of location and positioning,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin president and CEO. “We are delighted to add PulsedLight and their capabilities to the Garmin portfolio.”

“We are excited to have the support of a technology leader like Garmin. They are able to provide the resources and manufacturing expertise to integrate our technology into incredibly useful new devices that serve a multitude of markets,” said Dennis Corey, president and co-founder of PulsedLight. “We look forward to an exciting future under the Garmin umbrella.”