Nvidia Is Latest Investor To Back Av Startup Nuro In $203m Funding Round

Nvidia is among a group of caller investors to backmost Nuro — which develops self-driving package for transportation and ride-hailing services — successful a backing information that has reached $203 million.

The Silicon Valley startup announced Thursday that respective investors, including existing backer Baillie Gifford, added different $97 cardinal to its Series E round. New investors see Icehouse Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Nvidia, and Pledge Ventures. Uber, which past period said it would make a “multi-hundred-million dollar” finance successful Nuro arsenic portion of a broader deal pinch nan electrical car shaper Lucid, besides participated. 

Nvidia’s finance follows years of method collaboration pinch Nuro. The startup uses Nvidia GPUs for its large-scale information processing and exemplary training, and its latest compute exemplary is built connected nan Nvidia Drive AGX Thor platform.

The first $106 cardinal tranche of Series E backing was announced successful April. Investment accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Tiger Global Management, Greylock Partners, and XN participated successful that first block. 

Nuro has raised $2.3 cardinal to date. Its Series E post-money valuation is $6 billion. That’s a 30% driblet from its $8.6 cardinal valuation successful 2021 erstwhile Nuro raised $600 cardinal successful a Series D round. 

Much has changed successful nan past 4 years for Nuro and nan broader autonomous vehicles industry. Like astir startups successful nan nascent autonomous conveyance exertion sector, Nuro was forced to analyse its business exemplary aft economical conditions unopen disconnected nan once-free flowing pat of superior and ushered successful a play of consolidation.

Nuro went done respective rounds of layoffs successful 2022 and 2023 earlier overhauling its business strategy. In 2024, Nuro scrapped plans to ain and run a fleet of low-speed, on-road transportation bots, and alternatively focused its efforts connected licensing its exertion to automakers and mobility providers, for illustration ride-hail and transportation companies. 

The pivot has appeared to summation immoderate traction — notably successful July erstwhile Uber announced plans to launch a robotaxi service utilizing all-electric Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped pinch Nuro’s self-driving tech. Under nan deal, Uber invested $300 cardinal successful Lucid and agreed to bargain “at least” 20,000 of nan EV maker’s Gravity SUVs complete nan adjacent six years. 

Uber besides said it would put an undisclosed “multi-hundred-million dollar” magnitude into Nuro. One root acquainted pinch nan statement told TechCrunch nan magnitude is much than Uber’s finance successful Lucid. 

A information of Uber’s finance has gone toward nan Series E round. The remaining finance will beryllium parceled retired to Nuro arsenic nan institution hits definite milestones. 

Nuro co-founder and president Dave Ferguson said successful a connection that nan institution is well-positioned to proceed its adjacent shape of maturation pinch nan caller capital. He added that nan company, which employs astir 700 people, will attraction connected delivering caller commercialized partnerships to recognize autonomy astatine world scale.