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Autonomous technology company Aurora announced that it has completed its business combination with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, a special purpose acquisition company, and its common stock has begun trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol AUR.
The Mountain View, Calif., company announced it was entering this next phase with $1.8 billion in gross proceeds and cash, and described it as the biggest increase ever for an autonomous vehicle company. or robotics in a public transaction.
Additionally, Reinvent changed its name to Aurora Innovation Inc. The combined company’s warrants trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol AUROW.
Urmson
“As a public company, we will accelerate the work we are doing to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly and broadly,” Aurora Co-Founder and CEO Chris Urmson said. in a press release.
Aurora’s flagship product, the Aurora Driver, is designed to allow any vehicle platform – from Class 8 trucks to passenger vehicles – to move safely and efficiently without a human driver. Aurora plans to launch its autonomous commercial trucking business, Aurora Horizon, by the end of 2023, followed by its driverless transportation business, Aurora Connect, in 2024.
Aurora’s Driver-as-a-Service business model will offer fleet owners the ability to purchase Aurora Driver-powered vehicles, subscribe to use Aurora Driver, and use Aurora Certified Fleet Service Partners to operate autonomous mobility and logistics services.
Aurora announced its partnership with FedEx Corp., Uber, Toyota Group and North American truck makers Volvo Trucks North America and Paccar Inc., whose brands include Peterbilt Motors Co. and Kenworth Truck Co.
Heard on the streets: Aurora Innovation’s newly listed shares will be a key indicator of investor interest in autonomous vehicles, especially privateer peers Waymo, Cruise and Argo AI https://t.co/Llil99VfUB
— WSJ Markets (@WSJmarkets) November 5, 2021
Aurora expects to have traveled the equivalent of more than 9 billion simulated miles by the end of the year – 6 billion in 2021 alone.
Other company highlights:
• Demonstrated tangible technical progress with Aurora-powered Peterbilt Model 579 trucks hauling freight on Texas highways for FedEx through Aurora’s collaboration with FedEx and Paccar.
• Accelerated collaboration with partners through the Aurora Driver Development program — delivery of the prototype of Volvo’s first-ever commercial self-driving truck for the US market and the first prototype of the Aurora-powered Toyota Sienna.
• Released the industry’s first safety case framework to address autonomous trucking and passenger mobility, which the company says is a must for any company planning to deliver off-the-shelf autonomous vehicles to scale by operating on public roads without a driver.
He said investors included funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), Primecap Management Co., XN and Baillie Gifford; and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., Fidelity Management & Research Co., Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Reinvent Capital, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Uber, Paccar and Volvo Group .
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