May 14 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle startup Canoo ( GOEV )

posted a larger-than-expected loss for the first

quarter on Tuesday, but kept its outlook for the year unchanged.

Slowing demand in the United States and stiff competition

from Chinese EV makers in the world's largest auto market has

hit demand for companies including Canoo ( GOEV ).

That has forced several startups to shut shop as investors

have also grown cautious, making it difficult to raise more

funds.

EV startup Fisker ( FSRN ) had raised going concern doubts

in February, followed by the delisting of its stock from the New

York Stock exchange and the collapse of talks with a large

automaker for a potential deal in March.

Canoo ( GOEV ) first cautioned investors in 2022 that it had

"substantial doubt" about continuing as a going concern and has

since been raising capital to support production.

Canoo's ( GOEV ) net loss widened to $110.7 million for the quarter

ended March 31 from $90.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts, on average, had expected a loss of $55.2 million,

according to LSEG data.

The Texas-based company's research and development expenses

fell about 44%, helping lower operating expenses to $62.6

million from $81.5 million a year earlier.

The company's cash and cash equivalents stood at $18.2

million as of March 31, up from $6.4 million at the end of

December last year.

Canoo ( GOEV ), which went public in 2020 through a reverse merger

with a special purpose acquisition company, is a supplier of

electric delivery vans to Walmart ( WMT ) and crew

transportation vehicles to NASA.