Nuro Raises $940M From SoftBank For Robotic Delivery

Nuro, the robotics company operating in the commerce market, announced on Monday (Feb. 11) that it has raised $940 million in financing from the SoftBank Vision Fund.

In a press release, the company said that to date, it has raised more than $1 billion from SoftBank, Greylock Partners and Gaorong Capital. Nuro is aiming to transform local delivery with its self-driving service, in which unmanned vehicles run errands such as delivering takeout or picking up groceries. The startup aims to create a world in which people can get anything delivered on-demand for cheap.

“We’ve spent the last two and a half years building an amazing team, launching our first unmanned service, working with incredible partners and creating technology to fundamentally improve our daily lives,” said Nuro Co-founder Dave Ferguson in the press release. “This partnership gives us the opportunity to take the next step in realizing our vision for local commerce and the broad application of our technology.”

Last year, Nuro rolled out its unmanned vehicle, inking a deal with Kroger to use it to deliver groceries. It also licensed its self-driving technology to Ike, an autonomous trucking company, and rolled out the first unmanned delivery service in Arizona.

The company plans to use the funding to expand its delivery service into new regions, forge partnerships, expand its fleet and enhance its self-driving technology. It will also bring on more employees. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ferguson said it is holding discussions with automakers about the potential to ink partnerships that could include sharing technology to get access to their manufacturing.

“Nuro’s world-class team has successfully scaled their self-driving technology out of the lab and into the streets,” said Michael Ronen, managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers, in the same press release. “In just two years, Dave, Jiajun and team have developed Nuro from a concept into a real business using robotics to connect retailers to customers.”