today’s
word - lidar - light based radar
color - rich electric blue - 0892d0
news - lidar reveals hidden Maya cities beneath dense jungle canopy (NYT)
startup - Luminar (2012)
founded by Austin Russell, a Thiel Fellow, at age 17 in CA
spent first five years in stealth mode
automotive lidar for production cars and trucks
350+ patents issued and pending
in May 2024 laid off 20% of staff
as of September 2024 layoffs hit 30% (Reuters)
shockingly, Tesla became Luminar's largest customer in early 2024
contributing over 10% of Luminar's Q1 revenue (Reuters)
their Iris LiDAR became the first used on a global production vehicle
acquired laser module unit from Gooch & Housego (UK) in July 2024
enhancing capabilities in the aerospace and defense sectors
raised a total $251.5MM over 4 private rounds
seed - August 2015 - $1.5MM
series a - April 2017 - $36MM
sereis b - January 2018 - $114MM
sereis c - July 2019 - $100MM
SPAC - December 2020 - $590MM
post IPO debt I - December 2020 - $184MM
post IPO debt II - February 2021 - $154MM
post IPO debt III - January 2022 - $20.25MM
post IPO debt IV - August 2024 - $100MM
current ticker is LAZR
“lidar is lame”
― Elon Musk