Company: LIDRW
Filing Date: 2025-05-13
Form Type: DEFA14A
Source: 0000947871-25-000499
Chunk: 2

Company: AEye, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-05-13
Form: DEFA14A
Chunk 2
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 on commercialization of its products, and since the launch of our new product, Apollo, in 2024, the Company has seen renewed interest      
 from customers across a broad range of sectors and are actively engaged on multiple opportunities.                                         |

| · | Operational Inefficiencies and Organizational Complexity. The                                                                                  
 Company faced challenges related to inefficient internal processes, unclear reporting structures, and a lack of cross-functional coordination. 
 These operational inefficiencies contributed to delays in decision-making, increased overhead costs, and hindered the Company’s                
 ability to respond quickly to market opportunities and competitive threats.                                                                    |

| · | Brand Recognition and Market Awareness. Despite its technological                                                                     
 capabilities, AEye had limited brand recognition and market visibility, which impeded its ability to attract new customers, partners, 
 and investors. The lack of a strong market presence made it difficult to establish credibility and trust with key stakeholders.       |

Mr. Fisch has remained focused on building a resilient business
capable of withstanding economic headwinds while prioritizing innovation and customer growth. In the two years since he joined the Company,
AEye has:

| · | Accelerated development of and released Apollo, which we expect to be a game-changing                                                     
 lidar product that will leapfrog the competition in terms of performance and size, with an object detection range of up to one kilometer  
 and up to 300 meters from behind a windshield, neither of which any competitor has demonstrated to date, while at the same time measuring 
 just 3.5 x 15 x 13 cm, which is half the size of our competitors in the ultra-high performance range category. The major step forward     
 in Apollo’s development, which include a significant enhancement to the pre-existing product architecture, began in the second half       
 of 2023, and our team brought Apollo to market in 2024, the shortest product development time in the Company’s history while cutting      
 overhead and simplifying the supply chain infrastructure.                                                                                 |

| · | Reduced quarterly spend by 75% since 2023—the first step of the management team’s aggressive capital discipline. We anticipate 
 maintaining that 75% reduction in spend—the lowest cost structure since the Company went public.                               |

| · | Proactively raised an additional $24 million over the past 14 months to extend our runway and fortify our business and its strategy 
 against the near-term headwinds that our industry faces.                                                                            |

| · | Successfully retained critical talent despite limited compensation incentive tools at our disposal.