Lidar-maker Luminar files for bankruptcy

Lidar company Luminar has filed for Chapter 11 protection after several months dismissaldeparture from the authorities, and a legal battle and its main customer, Volvo.

The company intends to sell its lidar business during bankruptcy, and has already reached an agreement to sell its semiconductor division. Although the company will continue to operate during the bankruptcy to “minimize disruption” to its suppliers and customers, Luminar will eventually cease to exist once it is wound up.

“After a detailed review of our options, the board determined that a court-supervised sale was the best option,” Luminar CEO Paul Ricci said in a statement. “As we move forward in this direction, the most important thing is to continue to provide the same products, reliability and service that our customers have come to expect from us.”

The bankruptcy case, which was filed in the Southern District of Texas on Monday morning, comes at the end of a troubled year for the company that was valued at more than $3 billion when it did. It was publicly available in a revolutionary combination in 2020.

Luminar founder Austin Russell he abruptly stepped down as CEO in May following “the rules of business conduct and ethics,” even though he remained a member of the company. In October, he launched a new project called Russell AI Labs and created it want to buy Luminar directly.

Russell still plans to bid for Luminar’s remaining assets during the bankruptcy filing, a spokesperson for Russell AI Labs told TechCrunch.

“During the last three months – at the invitation of other stakeholders including members of the Luminar board – Russell AI Labs, in collaboration with a large technology company, agreed with Luminar on the idea of ​​providing a slope to the company and maintaining and generating profit for its owners. Unfortunately, they went in a different direction, as shown by what is happening today,” said the spokesperson.

“It has been difficult for Mr. Russell to look away, and Russell AI Labs believes that we can create great value with the Luminar platform, restore valuable customer relationships, advance the mission of saving millions of lives, and build the business stronger than ever,” they continued.

The company, meanwhile, cut 25% of its workforce – its second layoff of the year. Luminar’s chief financial officer left the company, the company defaulted on several loans, and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation.

Luminar was also hit by case of deportation in October at the same office as that he went out to rent on others in November.

Another big challenge came in November when Volvo, Luminar’s early supporter and its biggest customer is coming this year. canceled a five-year contract with a lidar manufacturer. Luminar said it had taken action against Volvo over the suspension, but it was also hit by legal claims from a contract manufacturer that actually made the lidar sensors.

Luminar says it has between $100 million and $500 million in assets and between $500 million and $1 billion in liabilities, according to filings. Among these loans is a $10 million loan to Scale AI, which was helping Luminar with data mining. Luminar also owes more than $1 million to AI software company Applied Intuition.

This article has been updated with a quote from Russell AI Labs.