Luminar secures up to $200M following CEO departure and layoffs
Lidar company Luminar reached a deal with Yorkville Advisors Global and an unnamed investor that could bring another $200 million into its coffers through the sale of convertible preferred stock over an 18-month period. The agreement, which was announced in a regulatory filing Wednesday, follows an abrupt change in leadership and layoffs.
Earlier this month, Luminar’s board replaced founder Austin Russell as CEO and board chair. Luminar’s board appointed Paul Ricci to the role. Ricci is the former chairman and CEO of Nuance. The company also launched another round of layoffs — its third since spring 2024.
Under the terms, Luminar will issue $35 million in convertible preferred stock to the investors. Luminar may issue additional tranches in amounts of up to $35 million no more than every 60 days at a purchase price equal to 96% of the stated value of the convertible preferred stock. However, Luminar isn’t under any obligation to issue additional stock.
“Today’s transaction provides us with additional financial flexibility and further strengthens our balance sheet,” Luminar CFO Tom Fennimore said in a statement. “We’ve made substantial progress in extending our liquidity runway with our restructuring efforts, and the additional capital available to us under this facility provides us with another tool to realize our long-term value.”
The company said proceeds from the initial $35 million issuance are expected to be used for general corporate purposes and debt retirement.
Yorkville has offered these lifelines to other struggling publicly traded companies, a list that includes failed Lordstown Motors, Faraday Future, and the now bankrupt Canoo.
Luminar was founded by Russell in 2012 when he was just a teenager. Luminar, and Russell, became Silicon Valley darlings when the lidar startup broke cover in April 2017 after operating for years in secrecy and at the height of the autonomous vehicle technology hype cycle.
In 2021, Luminar merged with special purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos Inc., with a post-deal market valuation of $3.4 billion. Today, Luminar has a market cap of $179 million. Luminar raised $250 million prior to the SPAC announcement.
Luminar has had some wins, but has also restructured several times. Luminar cut about 30% of its workforce in 2024 via two rounds of layoffs. Some of those layoffs spilled into the first quarter of 2025. A total of 212 employees were laid off.
In a regulatory filing earlier this month, the company said it began additional layoffs May 15. These new layoffs are expected to cost $4 million to $5 million in cash charges. These costs are expected to be incurred in the second and third quarters of this year.
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
