**Luminar’s Lidar Business Just Got a Lifeline**
Luminar, the lidar company that’s been navigating a bit of a storm, just got a major boost in its efforts to offload its lidar assets. According to a recent filing in the company’s bankruptcy case, MicroVision, a Washington-based company working on its own lidar sensors, has made a $33 million bid for the assets. That’s a pretty significant bump up from the $28 million bid Quantum Computing Inc. submitted just a few weeks ago, which was previously seen as the “stalking horse” bid.
For those who are new to this story, Luminar’s lidar business is the part of the company that’s on the block. The company’s other division, focused on semiconductors, was just snatched up by Quantum Computing Inc. for a cool $110 million. Now, it looks like the lidar business might be next.
But don’t think for a second that everyone is throwing in the towel just yet. Founder and former CEO Austin Russell, through his new company Russell AI Labs, had previously expressed interest in buying the company outright back in October. However, things got a bit hairy after that. Russell and Luminar got into a bit of a spat over a subpoena for his personal info, with Luminar accusing him of stonewalling. But, just last week, they reached a deal to settle the matter. If everything goes according to plan, the sale of the lidar assets could be approved as soon as Tuesday afternoon.
It’s not a done deal by any means, but this is definitely a promising development. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next. For now, it looks like Luminar’s lidar business just got a sweet new offer, and it could be the game-changer the company needs to turn things around.
