US-based autonomous driving technology developer Aurora Innovation has secured $530m in funding from investors including petroleum supplier Shell and e-commerce platform and cloud services provider Amazon.
The round was led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and also featured Shell Ventures, Shell’s investment arm, as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Geodesic, Reinvent Capital, Greylock, T. Rowe Price Group and Index Ventures. It valued the company at more than $2.5bn according to Bloomberg.
Aurora is working on software, hardware and data technology that will be utilised in driverless vehicles. It has built a 250-strong team and struck partnerships with automotive manufacturers including Hyundai, Volkswagen and Byton.
The company is headed by CEO Chris Urmson, who spearheaded internet technology provider Google’s autonomous car activities for seven years from 2009, while chief product officer Sterling Anderson and chief technology officer Drew Bagnell came from Tesla and Uber respectively.
Urmson told Bloomberg: “This is really about accelerating and delivering on our mission, which is to deliver self-driving technology safely, quickly and broadly. We have been incredibly fortunate that there is a lot of interest in Aurora, and we have been able to pick who is the most strategic for us.”
Sequoia Capital partner Carl Eschenbach took a seat on Autora’s board of directors in connection with the firm’s investment. Aurora had already received $90m in series A funding from Index Ventures and Greylock in February 2018, the month after it emerged from stealth.
An Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg: “Autonomous technology has the potential to help make the jobs of our employees and partners safer and more productive, whether it is in a fulfilment centre or on the road, and we are excited about the possibilities.”
This article was amended on February 8 to reflect additional investors.
