Self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation was hoping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding as it pushes ahead with commercializing self-driving cars by the end of 2024. The company had planned to sell up to $420 million in stock, but exceeded its target, raising $483 million.
The new funding comes just over a year after Aurora raised $820 million through a public offering and parallel private placement.
“This funding demonstrates investor confidence in Aurora's long-term capabilities and follows our recent analyst day, where investors got to test drive our self-driving trucks, as well as other recent milestones that highlight the strength of our partner ecosystem that enables us to deploy at scale,” company spokesperson Rachel Tsividakis told TechCrunch in an email.
Aurora went public through a special purpose acquisition merger in 2021, and its shares soared to $13.12 on its first day. Aurora shares closed at $3.84 on Friday. Shares were up more than 2% in after-hours trading.
Aurora is pursuing a driver-as-a-service model, with carriers purchasing trucks equipped with Aurora Driver technology and then servicing shippers through those trucks, but it plans to enter the market as a carrier, offering up to 20 packers and Volvo self-driving trucks to shippers by the end of the year.
Aurora first disclosed plans on Thursday to sell up to $420 million worth of Class A common stock to underwriters Goldman Sachs, Allen & Co. and Morgan Stanley, according to an SEC filing. Thursday's agreement came a day after Aurora filed a prospectus to sell $350 million worth of shares. Strong investor demand led to the sale being increased to $420 million, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
Aurora had expected net proceeds from the sale to be about $405 million, after deducting customary discounts, commissions and offering expenses, or about $466 million “if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full,” according to its latest filing. The closing of the deal on Friday afternoon boosted the amount raised to $483 million.
Aurora did not respond to questions Thursday about how it would use the net proceeds. Thursday's filing offered few hints, only vaguely stating that the company would use the funds for “working capital and other general corporate purposes.” The company also wrote in the filing that it would initially invest the offering proceeds in “short-term and long-term investment-grade securities, certificates of deposit or guaranteed obligations.”
Aurora provided further details after the deal closed on Friday.
“This opportunistic financing comfortably funds us through 2026 and puts us on a path to deploy driverless trucks at scale and become a cash-flow positive company in 2028,” Tsividakis said, adding that enthusiasm is growing as the company moves closer to commercialization as planned. “Our continued momentum and more favorable market conditions make now an opportune time to raise additional capital.”
The offer to raise more capital came as Aurora reported its second-quarter results. As of June 30, 2024, Aurora had $402 million in cash and cash equivalents and $618 million in short-term investments. The company expects this to be sufficient to fund its operations through the fourth quarter of 2025, excluding proceeds from the offering.
In the second quarter of 2024, Aurora spent $198 million, which is a direct loss since the startup has not yet generated revenue.
The company plans to launch commercial services on the Uber Freight network later this year. In June, the two companies announced a multi-year partnership to offer Aurora's self-driving technology on the Uber Freight network through 2030.
Update: This story has been updated to reflect that Aurora's $618 million in short-term investments is liquid in nature.
This article was originally published on Aug. 1, 2024 at 9:34 a.m. PST. It has been updated to include estimated proceeds based on additional SEC filings. This article was updated at 4:31 p.m. PST on Friday after Aurora announced the final amount raised.