Win Partners and Investors When Customers Are Years Away
For years, autonomous robot and vehicle makers struggled to build technology for perception and safety that was both effective and affordable enough to scale. And while many in the industry looked to lidar and optical tech, the founders of Oculii recognized that radar was being overlooked.
In the mid-2010s, Steven Hong and his father, Lang, launched their company. When they came to Propllr in 2020, they had a Series A under their belts, along with an incredible beta: software that makes radar smarter to improve perception in all conditions – for much cheaper than what was possible with cameras or lidar alone.
Oculii's feature in the WSJ
Challenge: Build Credibility Among Investors When You’re in Yearslong R&D
Getting Oculii’s technology ready for prime time would require long-term R&D. Plus, they’d need large-scale integration to deliver results: an automaker or robot developer would have to learn about the tech, test and validate it, and incorporate it into existing products before it could deliver the real-world perception improvements and cost savings Steven and Lang knew it was capable of.
To sustain research and development for the long term, Oculii would need to raise a Series B round, and to get that funding, they’d need a way to establish authority and credibility about the potential of software-enabled radar to transform the autonomous vehicle and robot industry.
So they turned to PR.
“[The Propllr team members were] valuable thought partners in shaping and crafting the narrative around Oculii.”
— Steven Hong, Oculii CEO
Strategy: Play Up a Contrarian Perspective on a Trending Topic
When we started working with Oculii, autonomous vehicles were a hot topic. But most of the discussion on safety and perception technology focused on lidar and camera capabilities. We tapped into the zeitgeist by offering Oculii’s unpopular opinion: that radar was key to the future of autonomy. Here’s how we did it.
1. Introduce the founders and their tech widely
We started the program with “hi not buy” outreach to reporters on a variety of beats – from business to automotive to autonomy tech and AI. In addition to introducing Oculii’s technology, we made sure reporters knew that the company’s founders could provide valuable information on stories about radar and related tech.
2. Target niche and mainstream audiences
We recognized that the Oculii story had mainstream appeal – in a car culture, after all, everyone will be impacted by autonomous vehicles
But we also knew that getting a startup on a reporter’s radar requires as much luck as it does tenacity. So in addition to pitching mainstream media, we also focused on trade and niche publications where the “smart radar” story would resonate with industry audiences.
3. Highlight the contrarian perspective on autonomous vehicle tech
Once we’d established relationships, we introduced Steven and his dad’s “hot take” on smart radar. The timing was just right: in addition to thought leadership pieces in a variety of trade pubs, we secured Oculii a big profile in Business Insider and a major feature in WSJ that essentially reported Oculii’s central premise: the hot new tech for self-driving cars is radar.
Results: A 9-Figure Acquisition by Ambarella
Less than a year after we launched our engagement, AI vision silicon company Ambarella acquired Oculii for an undisclosed nine-figure sum. Steven and Lang were thrilled with the acquisition, as it would make it possible to bring their technology to market faster.
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