Nuro Nears $1 Billion Investment from SoftBank to Reshape Logistics with Autonomous Delivery
Committed to creating a future where any good can be delivered quickly at the most economical price.
On the evening of February 11, 2019 Beijing time, Silicon Valley robotics company Nuro announced it had completed a $940 million funding round from SoftBank. To date, Nuro has raised over $1 billion from partners including SoftBank, Gaorong Ventures, Greylock Partners, and NetEase founder William Ding.
Nuro uses autonomous driving technology and services to make local delivery faster and more efficient. These services deploy Nuro's self-developed unmanned vehicles to transport everything from groceries and takeout to packages. Nuro's first product is designed to create a future where any goods can be delivered quickly at the most economical price.
"We spent two and a half years building a world-class team, launched the world's first public-facing unmanned delivery service, and worked with global leading partners to create autonomous driving products that fundamentally improve our daily lives," said Nuro co-founder Dave Ferguson. "This partnership with SoftBank gives us the opportunity to accelerate our vision of reshaping logistics delivery and other application scenarios through autonomous driving technology."
In 2018, Nuro achieved numerous notable milestones. The company not only launched its self-developed unmanned vehicle and formed a partnership with Kroger, the world's largest grocery chain, but also licensed its autonomous driving technology to Ike, a world-leading autonomous trucking company, and introduced the world's first public-facing unmanned delivery service in Arizona.
"Nuro's world-class team has successfully brought their autonomous driving technology from the lab into real life," said Michael Ronen, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "In just two years, Jiajun Zhu, Dave, and their team have successfully connected retailers and users through robotics and autonomous driving technology, transforming Nuro from an initial idea into a real commercial enterprise."
Nuro will use this funding round to expand its delivery service to new regions, add new partners, grow its fleet, refine its autonomous driving technology, and continue aggressively recruiting world-class talent.
Gaorong Ventures led Nuro's Series A in 2016 and has witnessed the company's many remarkable achievements. Michael Mao, founding partner at Gaorong Ventures, stated: "We have tremendous respect and high expectations for Jiajun Zhu, Dave, and the Nuro team. We believe that with their leading technology, engineering capabilities, product expertise, and commercial thinking, the Nuro team will accelerate the transformation of logistics delivery and other application scenarios through robotics and autonomous driving technology. We congratulate Nuro on completing this new $940 million funding round from SoftBank."
About Nuro
Nuro is a Silicon Valley robotics company that combines software and hardware expertise to design and manufacture products that accelerate the convenience robotics brings to everyone's lives. Nuro's first product is an autonomous service for local goods delivery. The company is led by globally renowned experts in robotics, artificial intelligence, and computer vision. Nuro is committed to building partnerships with businesses everywhere, helping them explore new ways to transport goods more economically and efficiently, and creating new experiences for users. For more information, please visit www.nuro.ai or follow Nuro on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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- Gaorong Ventures manages US dollar and RMB funds totaling approximately RMB 15 billion, focused on early-stage and growth-stage investments in the TMT sector.
- Its limited partners include top-tier global institutional investors as well as corporate giants from China's financial services, retail, and advertising industries.
- Additionally, dozens of successful entrepreneurs — founders of Tencent, Baidu, Taobao, Xiaomi, Meituan, Dianping, 360, Focus Media, Weibo, Sohu, JD.com, Vipshop, Tudou, Autohome, Ganji.com, and other companies — are also LPs in Gaorong Ventures.
- The founding partners previously led investments in numerous outstanding companies, including Xiaomi, Razer, Baofeng Technology, G-bits, Tudou, Wondershare, Archermind, 91 Assistant, 3G.cn, Mogujie, DOTA Legend, Yuanfudao, and others.
- Since its founding, multiple companies Gaorong has invested in or taken stakes in have grown into national or global leaders in their respective industries, including: Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD), HUYA Inc. (NYSE: HUYA), Huami (NYSE: HMI), Mogujie (NYSE: MOGU), Lifesense (300562.SZ), Meituan (03690.HK), Ping An Good Doctor (01833.HK), Zhongrongjin (acquired by Homa Appliances), DeePhi Tech (acquired by Xilinx), Qian Daibao (acquired by Meituan), U-Power, Beibei.com, Leqi E-commerce, DotC, Nuro, YITU, Roborock, Tianrang Intelligence, Zhuiyi Technology, Tigerobo, Oasis Labs, Beitai Haoche, QuantGroup, Shuidihuzhu, Testin, Doumi, BIGO LIVE, Danke Apartment, Qian Damai, Perfect Diary, Ucommune, and others.
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