Amazon and Sequoia Invest in the Future of Self-Driving Cars Startup Aurora

Aurora, an emerging startup founded by early pioneers of autonomous vehicle technology who led programs at Google, Tesla, and Uber, has raised more than $530 million, including “significant investments” from Amazon and T. Rowe Price Associates.

The monster funding round raises Aurora’s valuation to more than $2.5 billion. Aurora announced a $90 million Series A funding round from Greylock Partners and Index Ventures last February, bringing its total funding to more than $620 million.

Sequoia partner Carl Eschenbach will join Aurora’s board of directors. Aurora’s board already includes Mike Volpi of Index Ventures, LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, and Ian Smith as outside directors.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, Geodesic, Shell Ventures and Reinvent Capital also participated in the round, along with previous investors Greylock and Index Ventures.

The capital raise and the company’s new valuation are certainly notable. But it’s the onboarding of new investors that gives the best view into Aurora’s ambitions.

The company has already seen significant growth in its relatively short existence. Since founding the company in early 2017, Sterling Anderson, Drew Bagnell, and Chris Urmson have opened offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh, and announced partnerships with Volkswagen Group, Hyundai, and Chinese electric vehicle startup Byton. The company has also made several key hires, including Jinnah Hossain, a former head of software development at SpaceX who will lead the company’s software development team.

Sequoia’s “stamp of approval” (as Urmson calls it) at such an early stage is important, and the addition of Amazon and T. Rowe Price as two other investors signals a long-term strategy is in play.

Aurora will likely need more capital as it develops its “full-stack solution” for autonomous vehicles. So the choice of investor is crucial.

“We`re trying to be strategic about it and have people around the table who share the vision of where we want to go as a company and who understand how hard the problem is — this is not a short-term play — and knowing that ultimately we will need more capital,” According to report.

According to report, T. Rowe Price’s understanding of macro trends will provide Aurora with the long-term thinking it needs to survive in this ever-changing, emerging
autonomous vehicle industry.

Meanwhile, Amazon has logistical capabilities and significant capital that could be particularly beneficial to Aurora.

Aurora engineers are focused on Level 4 self-driving, an SAE International designation that means the car could fully take over driving under certain conditions. Level 4 autonomy can be applied in a number of ways. And while most assume this includes transporting people in robotaxis, autonomy can also be applied to transporting goods.

This is where Amazon comes into play. To be clear, neither Amazon nor Aurora suggested that any customer relationships were involved. But Amazon’s involvement screams “strategic partner.”

“We are always looking to invest in innovative, customer-obsessed companies, and Aurora is just that,” Amazon said in an emailed statement. “Autonomous technology has the potential to help make the jobs of our employees and partners safer and more productive, whether it’s in a fulfillment center or on the road, and we’re excited about the possibilities.”