Exhibit 99.1
Carl Bass to Join Ouster as Chairman of the Board of Directors
Former Autodesk CEO and Chairman at Zoox to Join Ouster as Chairman of the Board of Directors
at Close of Transaction with Colonnade Acquisition Corp. to Address Diverse Lidar Market
Spanning Industrial, Smart Infrastructure, Robotics, and Automotive
SAN FRANCISCO – February 17, 2021 – Ouster, Inc. (“Ouster”), a leading provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors for the industrial automation, smart infrastructure, robotics, and automotive industries, today announced that Carl Bass has agreed to act as Chairman of the Board of Directors following the closing of Ouster’s business combination transaction with Colonnade Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: CLA) (“CLA”). Bass will bring extensive experience from a broad array of robotics and automation enterprises, and will leverage his expertise to help Ouster scale its organization to address the growing lidar market, which Ouster anticipates to reach $48 billion by 2030.
“Ouster’s disruptive technology is nothing short of transformational. Driven by its disruptive, patented digital lidar, Ouster is a leader that can address the full potential market opportunity for lidar across industrial, smart infrastructure, robotics, and automotive,” Mr. Bass said. “Joining the Board of Directors is an opportunity I couldn’t pass on. I believe lidar can be a fundamental sensing technology as ubiquitous as cameras, and Ouster is already taking its digital lidar far beyond automotive into verticals with tremendous near-term commercial demand.”
“Carl’s industry leadership and operating experience scaling market leading global businesses will help propel us through our next phase of growth,” said Angus Pacala, co-founder and CEO of Ouster. “There is a huge market opportunity for Ouster, and we’re excited to have Carl’s counsel and expertise, but also his passion for our technology and the solutions we deliver.”
Prior to joining Ouster, Bass spent 24 years at Autodesk, where he held a series of executive leadership positions including chief technology officer, chief operations officer, and CEO from 2006 until 2017. Bass previously co-founded Ithaca Software, which was acquired by Autodesk in 1993.
Bass serves as the lead director for Zendesk and as the chairman of the board for Bright Machines and Velo3D. Bass also serves on the boards of Arris Composites, Box, Built Robotics, Formlabs, nTopology, Oqton and Planet Labs. Bass also serves on the advisory boards of Cornell Computing and Information Science, UC Berkeley School of Information and UC Berkeley College of Engineering, and holds a position on the board of trustees of California College of the Arts. Bass holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Cornell University.
In December, Ouster entered into a definitive merger agreement with CLA in a transaction that would result in Ouster being listed on the NYSE. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The companies will host a virtual investor day on February 22, 2021 featuring Mr. Bass, industry expert Dr. Stephen Fantone and Ouster management, available on Ouster’s investors’ webpage at https://investors.ouster.com.
About Ouster
Ouster invented its digital lidar in 2015 and is a leading manufacturer of high-resolution digital lidar sensors used throughout the industrial automation, smart infrastructure, robotics, and automotive industries. Ouster’s sensors are reliable, compact, affordable and highly customizable, laying the foundation for digital lidar ubiquity across endless applications and industries. Already hundreds of customers have incorporated Ouster lidar sensors in current products or those in development for imminent commercial release. Ouster has previously announced a merger agreement with CLA, a special purpose acquisition company, that would result in Ouster becoming a publicly listed company. For more information, visit www.ouster.com, or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn.