Luminar is cutting jobs, losing its CFO, and warning of a cash shortage

Leader-maker Lumina is warning shareholders that it will run out of cash by early 2026 and has announced 25% of its workforce to be cut to help stem the bleeding – its Second layoff According to a controller of the year – Friday Filing.

It was not immediately clear how many workers would be affected. Lumina started the year with about 580 workers, but the company did not specify the size of the layoffs earlier this year. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company announced that its chief financial officer, Thomas Fenimore, is stepping down on November 13 “to pursue other career opportunities”. Luminar said Fenimore’s departure was “not the result of any disagreement” over his finances or with the company’s auditors.

All of this comes as founder Austin Russell — who was replaced As CEO in May after an unspecified ethics investigation by the board’s audit committee — in the middle Attempts to buy the company. That purchase was encouraged by at least some board members, according to TechCrunch As previously reported.

Luminar struggled in part because it sold fewer lidar sensors to Volvo, which was supposed to be a major customer. In August, Fenimore said that Luminar is Selling sensors at low cost It takes building them.

Luminar said Friday it had $72 million in cash and marketable securities as of Oct. 24. Without any additional fundraising, the current burn rate means Luminar could run out of money as early as the first quarter of next year, or breach some debt covenants.

On Friday, Luminar disclosed that it had already skipped required quarterly interest payments on some loans that were due Oct. 15. Those creditors have agreed to give Luminar until Nov. 6 to pay before taking any action.

Lumina isn’t due to report its third-quarter financial results for another two weeks, but on Friday, it revealed it expects to report about $18 million in revenue and $429 million in debt.