AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIDR), a global leader in adaptive, high-performance lidar solutions, has announced a common stock purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with New Circle Principal Investments LLC (“New Circle”), an affiliate of New Circle Capital LLC. This agreement grants AEye the right, but not the obligation, to sell up to $50 million of its common stock to New Circle over a 36-month period (the “Equity Reserve Facility”).
Matt Fisch, CEO of AEye, commented, “We are pleased to announce this stock purchase agreement with New Circle, which could significantly extend our cash runway and enable us to advance our strategic growth initiatives. The establishment of this facility is timely as we have recently reached key performance milestones with our ultra-long-range, high-speed lidar product, Apollo, which we believe is the most compact lidar solution for the $5 billion ADAS market. Apollo continues to attract significant interest from partners and OEMs seeking a value-driven, ultra-long-range lidar solution that addresses safety at speed, without requiring OEMs to sacrifice design due to its small form factor.
“Raising additional capital should enable us to invest in necessary go-to-market activities with Apollo and execute on the design wins we are pursuing. This should accelerate our strategic objectives and position us for continued growth and innovation in our industry.”
Additional details about the Equity Reserve Facility are available in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, which will be filed with the SEC and accessible at www.sec.gov and on the Company’s website.
AEye plans to use the net proceeds from the Equity Reserve Facility for working capital and general corporate purposes, supporting future growth, including further penetration into the Chinese lidar market and enhancements to the Apollo product’s go-to-market strategy.
