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Autonomous trucks from Volvo and others use Aurora Driver, an SAE Level 4 self-driving technology. | Source: Aurora Innovation
Autonomous trucks are getting funding. Aurora Innovation Inc. announced last week the closing of an “underwritten upsized” public offering with 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 has designed it to fit a wide range of vehicle types, from a four-door sedan to a Class 8 semi-trailer.
In May, Volvo Autonomous Solutions unveiled its first production-ready autonomous truck. Volvo has combined its commercial vehicle experience with Aurora Driver, an SAE Level 4 system, in the VNL autonomous truck.
The controller includes artificial intelligence software, two computers, a proprietary lidar that can detect more than 400 m (1,312.3 ft) away, high-resolution cameras, an image reader and other sensors. These technologies enable VNL to navigate safely, Aurora claims.
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Urmson explains why Aurora is appealing to investors
Urmson, CEO of Aurora, cited three reasons why Wall Street’s largest institutional investors continue to support the company:
- They have confidence in Aurora’s leadership and a responsible approach to technology.
- They recognize its strong partner ecosystem and put it on a path to scale a highly profitable business.
- He believes 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 of their option to purchase up to 17,500,000 additional shares by the underwriters.
Goldman Sachs & Co., Allen & Co. and Morgan Stanley acted as joint book managers. Evercore ISI, Canaccord Genuity, TD Cowen and Wolfe | Nomura Alliance acted as bookrunners 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 previously filed and declared effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A definitive prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the underwritten public offering have been filed with the SEC.
Aurora said the proceedings would add $1 billion to its liquidity by the end of June. With the runway until 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.