GoPro’s Founder Lends the Company $20 Million as It Fights to Survive

GoPro’s ongoing troubles are well documented. The company has “substantial doubt” about its future. As the company works hard to stay afloat long enough to find a solution to its financial woes, GoPro’s founder and CEO is effectively loaning the company $20 million.

GoPro announced, as reported by Digital Camera World, its founder and CEO, Nicholas Woodman, has “agreed to provide $20 million in financing to GoPro through the issuance of $20 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes and warrants to purchase shares of the company’s Class B common stock via entities affiliated with Mr. Woodman.”

Put another way, Woodman is buying $20 million in GoPro shares from the company, giving the company access to $20 million in financing on more favorable terms than it could get from outside lenders.

Financing is a significant part of GoPro’s current problem. The company filed forms with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that outlined serious, well-founded concerns that GoPro would, at its current pace, fail as a viable company. GoPro cited multiple factors, including a significant drop in revenue, but also dim revenue prospects for its brand-new Mission 1 series cameras due to the ongoing memory shortage and increased components costs.

In early June, GoPro said it lacked sufficient liquidity to satisfy its current loan covenants and debt obligations. Even in good times, it can be challenging to secure new loans to cover existing ones, let alone when a company is struggling and lacks confidence that it can quickly improve its standing.

In May, GoPro said it was considering selling the company and was in active talks with advisors to find its best options moving forward. Other possibilities include a full-blown restructure or a merger. The company already announced plans to lay off over 20% of its workforce in April in an effort to cut costs significantly.

Woodman remains optimistic that GoPro can find a solution to its problems.

“An independent committee of the board of directors evaluated a range of financing options and concluded this structure offered the most favorable terms for GoPro and our shareholders,” says Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “My financing reflects my enthusiasm for GoPro and its several go-forward opportunities. I continue to strongly support the board’s evaluation of strategic alternatives, a process we announced on May 11, 2026, and which continues to progress.”

GoPro was, for a time, one of the biggest camera companies in North America. The California-based company, founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman, had a stock price nearing $90 in 2014. Today, at the time of writing, GoPro’s stock price is under a dollar at just $0.76.

Image creditsGoPro. Header photo created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.com.