Nuro Raises $106 Million to Scale Autonomous Vehicle Technology Platform

Autonomous vehicle company Nuro said Wednesday (April 9) that it has raised $106 million so far in an ongoing Series E funding round that values the company at $6 billion.

The round brings the company’s total funding to date to $2.2 billion, and it expects to add more Series E participants in the coming weeks, Nuro said in a Wednesday press release.

Nuro will use the new funding to scale its technology platform and advance its commercial partnerships, according to the release.

The company has a licensing-driven business model and offers its “vehicle-agnostic, cost-effective technology” to automotive manufacturers, suppliers and mobility companies that can integrate it into robotaxis, goods-delivery vehicles and personal vehicles, the release said.

“We’re excited to see strong investor enthusiasm for our Series E,” Nuro Co-founder and CEO Jiajun Zhu said in the release. “Our technology, years of experience with driver-out Level 4 deployments, and focus on licensing uniquely position us to help automakers, mobility platforms and commercial fleets accelerate their autonomy roadmaps.”

Nuro said in November that it expanded its deployment of autonomous vehicles in two cities in California — Mountain View and Palo Alto — and in Houston, Texas.

The company said it was ready to provide its autonomy platform to automotive OEMs and mobility companies.

“Our latest driverless deployment demonstrates the maturity and capability of our AI platform, and we’re excited for potential partners to capitalize on the performance, safety and sophistication of the Nuro Driver to build their own incredible autonomy products,” Zhu said in a Nov. 19 press release.

Nuro announced the expansion of its business model to include licensing in September, saying that its partnering with automotive OEMs and mobility platforms would accelerate the adoption of autonomous vehicles.

The company said its licensing model offers a “commercially independent, road-proven platform” that automotive OEMs and mobility platforms can use to speed up their development and deployment of autonomous vehicles.

“We believe Nuro is positioned to be a major contributor to this autonomous future where people and goods mobility are free-flowing, representing a significant increase in the quality of life for everyone,” Zhu said in a Sept. 11 press release.