A variety of lidar companies have reported their financial results for 2021, and it’s apparent they’re spending heavily.
Luminar, Aeva, Aurora, and Ouster all posted sharp rises in sales but hefty operating losses, as they work to develop and commercialise ADAS and AV technology.
– Velodyne confirmed a 35% fall in annual sales to $62 million in 2021. For the closing quarter of 2021, Velodyne’s revenues of $17.5 million were down only slightly on the equivalent period of 2020, but the San Jose firm also burned through $30 million in cash.
“Lidar is going to transform virtually every industry as we know it, creating a safer, more efficient, and sustainable world. Velodyne Lidar is well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity” said CEO Ted Tewksbury.
– Luminar Technologies CEO Austin Russell said “2022 will be our biggest year yet as we prepare for our breakthrough series production launch at year-end”.
In terms of sales revenues, Luminar posted $12 million for the closing quarter of 2021, and $32 million for the full year respectively, both figures rising sharply on the 2020 totals, with Volvo and Daimler representing the firm’s top two customers.
– Aeva, located close to Velodyne in Silicon Valley, said its 2021 revenues almost doubled on the 2020 figure, reaching $9 million. It gobbled up just over $80 million of its cash reserves. Aeva still has plenty of liquid assets on its balance sheet.
CEO and co-founder Soroush Salehian said: “Aeva delivered on all of our objectives in 2021 enabling us to accelerate our path to commercialization.” The company, which is one of only a few lidar firms to have developed FMCW lidar technology, has just released its “Aeries II” product, claiming it to be “the world’s first commercially available 4D lidar that offers automotive grade reliability”.
– Aurora which is developing a full autonomous driving system based around its internal FMCW lidar – posting an annual operating loss of $731 million on “collaboration revenues” of $83 million. However, the company raised a colossal $1.8 billion on completing its SPAC listing in November, with its balance sheet showing $1.6 billion in cash and equivalent liquid assets as of December 31.
– Ouster which completed its SPAC almost exactly a year ago, and has since acquired Sense Photonics, reported $34 million in annual sales revenues for 2021, accompanied by a cash burn of $71 million.
The San Francisco company’s CEO Angus Pacala described the past year as a “turning point”, and predicted that sales will rise to between $65 million and $85 million in 2022.
