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Lunewave, a University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ technology startup developing specialized, 3D-printed antennae and radar for self-driving vehicles and related applications has raised $7 million in an initial venture-capital funding round as it prepares to roll out its first products.

The investment round was led by Colorado-based FM Capital, with new investors including Proeza Ventures, Blue 9 Capital, Tsingyuan Ventures and Intact Ventures, the company said.

Lunewave was co-founded in 2016 by Hao Xin, a professor in the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the company’s lead inventor and current chief technology officer. Fellow UA professor and co-inventor Min Liang serves as the company’s vice president of technology.

The company licensed the technology developed by Xin and Liang from the UA in 2017.

The core of the company’s technology is the use of inexpensive, high-performing, 3D-printed “Luneburg lenses� — spherical lenses that can replace multiple sensors.

The company says its latest 3D-printed Luneburg lens offers broad bandwidth, high efficiency and the capability of forming multiple high-quality beams in all directions.

Two Lunewave radar sensors could replace 20 radar sensors used today, while providing greater resolution and performance across a wide field of view, the company says.

John Xin, Lunewave co-founder and CEO and Hao Xin’s brother, said Lunewave is actively working with top suppliers to the automotive industry to establish strategic partnerships to jointly deliver a mass-produced radar sensor.

He said Lunewave offers significant improvements for advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous vehicle applications for automakers, ride-hailing companies and the delivery, commercial trucking and construction industries.

Lunewave also announced that it has added two longtime auto-industry executives, Peter Schwarzenbacher and James Zizelman, to its board of directors.

Schwarzenbacher is the former president and CEO of Porsche and most recently served on BMW’s board of directors. Zizelman is currently the president of Stoneridge Control Devices and the former vice president of engineering for Aptiv, both major suppliers of electronic systems and components to the automotive industry.

In 2018, Lunewave raised $5 million in a seed-funding round led by FM Capital and including BMW i Ventures, Baidu Ventures and others.