The story
Angus Pacala and Mark Frichtl founded Ouster in 2015, along with two other former Stanford University classmates, after working at laser-based sensing company Quanergy.
In December 2017 the company launched out of stealth, raising a $27 million series A.
In 2019 Ouster raised an additional $60 million in a round led by Runway Growth Capital, with contributions from Silicon Valley Bank, Cox Enterprises, Constellation Tech Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, and Carthona Capital — bringing the company's total raised to $90 million.
In March 2021, Ouster completed a merger with Colonnade Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company and became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
In October 2021, Ouster agreed to buy Sense Photonics in an all-stock deal valued around $68 million at the time of the announcement. On completion, Ouster said it would establish Ouster Automotive, a new business arm, which will be headed by Sense CEO Shauna McIntyre.
In November 2022, Ouster and Velodyne Lidar agreed to merge in an all-share transaction in which the combined business will be split evenly between the two companies' existing shareholders. The merger completed in February 2023, with the combined company retaining the Ouster name.
On 4, February 2026 Ouster acquired Stereolabs SAS, a leading provider of stereo cameras. Stereolabs is a French comapany founded in 2010 with over 10,000 customers and has shipped over 90,000 cameras for advanced perception systems for robotics and machinery.
In May 2026, Ouster released the world's first native colour lidar system, REV8.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ouster (company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6