Autonomous trucks from Volvo and others use Aurora Driver, SAE Level 4 self-driving technology. | Source: Aurora Innovation
Autonomous trucks are picking up funding. Aurora Innovation Inc. last week announced the closing of an “underwritten upsized” public offering for total gross proceeds of about $483 million, before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and other offering expenses.
Chris Urmson, Sterling Anderson, and Drew Bagnell founded the Pittsburgh-based company in 2017. Its Aurora Driver is a self-driving system with a common core of hardware and software. Aurora designed it to adapt to a broad set of vehicle types, from a four-door sedan to a Class 8 semi truck.
In May, Volvo Autonomous Solutions unveiled its first production-ready autonomous truck. Volvo combined its commercial vehicle experience with Aurora Driver, an SAE Level 4 system, in the VNL autonomous truck.
Driver includes artificial intelligence software, dual computers, proprietary lidar that can detect more than 400 m (1,312.3 ft.) away, high-resolution cameras, an imaging reader, and additional sensors. These technologies enable the VNL to safely navigate, according to Aurora.
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Urmson explains why Aurora appeals to investors
Urmson, the CEO of Aurora, listed three reasons why Wall Street’s largest institutional investors continue to back the company:
- They have confidence in Aurora’s leadership and responsible approach to technology.
- They recognize its strong partner ecosystem, putting it on a path to scaling a highly profitable business.
- They believe in the benefit of technology and the economic opportunity it will create.
Aurora sold 134,166,667 shares of its Class A common stock at $3.60 per share in the public offering. This includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to 17,500,000 additional shares.
Goldman Sachs & Co., Allen & Co., and Morgan Stanley acted as joint book-running managers. Evercore ISI, Canaccord Genuity, TD Cowen, and Wolfe | Nomura Alliance acted as book runners for the offering.
The Class A common stock in the public offering was offered by Aurora pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3 that was previously filed and declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the underwritten public offering were filed with the SEC.
Aurora said the proceeds will add to its $1 billion of liquidity as of the end of June. With runway well into 2026, Aurora said it expects this incremental capital to fund the initial phase of its scaling strategy. It plans to launch driverless trucks in Texas by the end of this year.
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