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11 Feb 2026
Cash-plus-stock acquisition by the US-based lidar company to create 'world's most capable perception platform'.
US-based lidar company Ouster has acquired the French machine vision pioneer StereoLabs, with the aim of combining the two photonics-based technologies to provide an unprecedented combination of machine perception.
The San Francisco firm agreed to pay $35 million in cash, plus another 1.8 million shares - currently trading at around $20 on the Nasdaq - to complete the deal, with StereoLabs said to have recorded sales of approximately $16 million last year.
Human-like vision
StereoLabs was originally spun out of the Institut d'Optique in Paris by co-founders Cecile Schmollgruber, Edwin Azzam, and Olivier Braun, with the aim of enabling machines to see just like humans.
They initially focused on the development of 3D stereo vision stabilization for surgical robots, before going on to work with film director James Cameron to stabilize footage for his movie Avatar and establishing the company as a world leader in 3D image processing for cinema.
After that, StereoLabs developed its own industrial cameras in the form of the “ZED” family of products, alongside embedded AI and sensor fusion used by thousands of customers that is claimed to provide machines and robots with a “deep, semantic grasp of the environment, without interruptions”.
“The future of autonomy isn't about choosing between vision or lidar, it's about unifying them,” said Schmollgruber in an Ouster release announcing the business combination.
“By combining StereoLabs' AI vision with Ouster’s digital lidar, we are creating the world's most capable perception platform to directly address customers’ primary sensor fusion requirements and enable machines to sense, think, act, and learn in the physical world.”
Complementary perception
In an investor call to discuss the deal, Ouster CEO Angus Pacala added: “Today marks a pivotal moment for both companies, as we join forces to create a world-leading sensing and perception company for physical AI.
“Whether a customer requires high-density camera data, or the 3D precision of lidar, Ouster can provide a single source for sensing and perception needs. We see growing demand for the fusion of camera and lidar data, to achieve the levels of safety required to accelerate the safe adoption of physical AI.”
Pacala explained that while lidar provides excellent 3D perception in dark and obscure conditions, this is complemented by the high-resolution color and textural data offered by cameras when analyzing complex environments.
“Now, our customers can harness the precision of lidar along with the richness of vision. For the first time, Ouster and StereoLabs are bringing this complex system development under a single roof.”
In the same call, Schmollgruber confirmed that she and her co-founders would continue to lead the StereoLabs team following the acquisition. “Our focus remains on what we do best: innovating the powerful vision solutions that our customers demand,” Schmollgruber said.
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