Lidar-maker Luminar files for bankruptcy

Lidar institution Luminar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy extortion aft months of layoffs, enforcement departures, and a ineligible combat with its largest customer, Volvo.

The institution aims to merchantability disconnected its lidar concern during the bankruptcy proceeding, and has already reached a woody to merchantability its semiconductor subsidiary. While the institution volition proceed to run during the bankruptcy process to “minimize disruptions” for its suppliers and customers, Luminar volition yet cease to beryllium erstwhile it’s completed.

“After a broad reappraisal of our alternatives, the committee determined that a court-supervised merchantability process is the champion way forward,” Paul Ricci, Luminar’s CEO said successful a statement. “As we navigate this process, our apical precedence is to proceed delivering the aforesaid quality, reliability and work our customers person travel to expect from us.”

The bankruptcy case, filed successful the Southern District of Texas connected Monday morning, comes astatine the extremity of a tumultuous twelvemonth for a institution that was valued astatine much than $3 cardinal erstwhile it went nationalist successful a reverse merger successful 2020.

Luminar laminitis Austin Russell abruptly resigned from the CEO relation successful May pursuing a “code of concern behaviour and morals inquiry,” though helium remained connected the company’s board. In October, helium launched a caller effort called Russell AI Labs and made a bid to bargain Luminar outright. (It’s unclear if Russell plans to prosecute the lidar assets successful the bankruptcy case; representatives for the erstwhile CEO did not instantly respond to requests for comment.)

The company, meanwhile, chopped 25% of its workforce — its 2nd layoff of the year. Luminar’s main fiscal serviceman near the company, the institution defaulted connected a fig of loans, and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation.

Luminar was besides deed with an eviction suit successful October astatine 1 bureau and it exited a lease connected different successful November.

Another large stroke came successful November erstwhile Volvo, an aboriginal backer of Luminar and its largest lawsuit heading into this year, canceled a five-year-old declaration with the lidar-maker. Luminar said it has taken ineligible enactment against Volvo implicit the dissolution, but it has besides been deed with its ain ineligible assertion from the declaration shaper that really made the lidar sensors.

Luminar is claiming to person betwixt $100 cardinal and $500 cardinal successful assets and betwixt $500 cardinal and $1 cardinal successful liabilities, according to the bankruptcy filings. Among those liabilities is simply a $10 cardinal indebtedness owed to Scale AI, which was helping Luminar with information labeling. Luminar besides owes much than $1 cardinal to AI bundle institution Applied Intuition.