US-headquartered autonomous driving technology developer Cruise raised more than $2bn from investors including software provider Microsoft and automotive manufacturers General Motors (GM) and Honda today.
The corporates were joined in the round by undisclosed institutional investors, and the cash was provided at a $30bn post-money valuation.
Cruise is working on autonomous driving software that will be used in all-electric vehicles forming the basis for shared taxi services, in addition to hardware such as sensors, robotics and telematics systems.
Microsoft invested through a strategic partnership that will involve it combining its cloud computing and software and hardware engineering capabilities, manufacturing expertise and partner ecosystem with Cruise’s to bolster the commercialisation of the latter’s technology.
The corporate will also be Cruise’s preferred cloud services provider. Mary Barra, chairwoman and chief executive of GM, said: “Microsoft is a great addition to the team as we drive toward a future world of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.
“Microsoft will help us accelerate the commercialisation of Cruise’s all-electric, self-driving vehicles and help GM realise even more benefits from cloud computing as we launch 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025 and create new businesses and services to drive growth.”
GM and Honda had joined telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund and investment manager T. Rowe Price in a $1.15bn round for Cruise in mid-2019 that was closed at a $19bn post-money valuation.
Cruise had previously raised $2.25bn in a 2018 round that included $1.1bn from GM and $900m from Vision Fund. It came two years after GM acquired the company for $2bn, later spinning it off into an independent business.
