Driverless delivery startup Nuro gets $940 million SoftBank investment
Reuters
February 11, 2019
FILE PHOTO - The unmanned delivery vehicle, Nuro, is seen during the Kroger annual shareholders meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., June 28, 2018. Picture taken June 28, 2018. Courtesy of Kroger/Handout via REUTERS
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(Reuters) - Autonomous technology startup Nuro said on Monday it raised $940 million from SoftBank Group Corp, which valued the Silicon Valley-based company at $2.7 billion.
Nuro was co-founded in 2016 by two former engineers of Google’s self-driving car project, Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu.
The funding by SoftBank came through its $100-billion Vision Fund, which usually picks up big stakes in fast-growing technology companies.
Last year, Nuro launched a self-driving delivery vehicle to run errands from picking up groceries to delivering dinner, and partnered with U.S. supermarket chain Kroger co to extend its services.
The firm, which largely operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, said it will use the funds to expand its delivery service to new areas, add new partners, expand its fleet and grow its team.
Nuro has raised more than $1 billion from investors, including Greylock Partners and Gaorong Capital, which had participated in its Series A funding round.
Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur
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