Aurora Innovation

Aurora Innovation (Aurora) is an autonomous vehicle technology startup founded by former Google, Tesla, and Uber executives. It provides autonomous vehicles under two divisions, namely “Aurora Horizon” (its autonomous trucking service) and “Aurora Connect” (its autonomous ride-hailing service). Both are powered by the company’s self-driving technology “Aurora Driver.” Its “Fusion” next-generation hardware kit improves the decision-making speed and accuracy of Aurora Driver and enables autonomous vehicles to operate in varying weather, including rain, snow, and fog. The company also has its own LiDAR sensor system, “FirstLight,” integrated into its Aurora Driver technology. The company plans to provide the service to customers on a subscription basis (driver-as-a-service) once commercialized. 

Aurora received permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (DOT) to test vehicles with a safety driver within the state in October 2018 and received the same permission from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in January 2020. The company is testing its autonomous cars in areas such as Palo Alto and San Francisco in California, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and Dallas in Texas—where the operation of self-driving vehicles is legal. 

Aurora also acquired Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), Uber’s self-driving car unit in December 2020, to complement its autonomous technology development. As part of the transaction, upon transferring ATG to Aurora, Uber invested USD 400 million in Aurora. It had also acquired two LiDAR startups, namely Blackmore (May 2019) and OURS Technology (February 2021) to expedite and complement its LiDAR development process. 

Key customers and partnerships

The company has product development partnerships with Hyundai (April 2018), Toyota and its auto parts subsidiary Denso (February 2021), and Amazon Web Services (December 2021). 

Funding and financials

Aurora has been listed on Nasdaq since November 2021, via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which valued the combined entity at around USD 1.3 billion (July 2021). In July 2023, Aurora raised USD 820 million through a mix of a public offering (USD 220 million) and a private placement (USD 600 million). Aurora didn’t report any revenue for the year ended December 2023 (as opposed to a revenue of USD 68 million in 2022). It reported an operating loss of USD 835 million for the year.