SoftBank Vision Fund Rides Hard on Nuro
February 11, 2019
The SoftBank Vision Fund still has more money to invest.
The fund invested US$ 940 million in Mountain View-based Nuro, an autonomous delivery startup.
In total, Nuro raised more than US$ 1 billion from Japan-based SoftBank Group, Greylock Partners, and Gaorong Capital (formerly called Banyan Capital).
The company was founded by former employees of Google’s Waymo division.
Autonomous Vehicle Infrastructure Builds Up
Nuro is focused on creating a self-driving stack and using that with an unmanned vehicle for last-mile deliveries of goods and services.
The vehicle can store up to six grocery bags each. In 2018, Nuro partnered with grocer Kroger to attempt a delivery service in Arizona using first a Toyota Prius and then to the delivery vehicle bot.
In addition, Nuro also licenses its stack technology.
Nuro licensed its technology to San Francisco-based Ike, an autonomous trucking startup.
In February 2019,
Ike raised US$ 52 million in a Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Redpoint Ventures,
Fontinalis Partners (venture firm focused on next-generation mobility),
Basis Set Ventures,
and Neo.
In September 2018,
Somerville, Massachusetts-based WaveSense, Inc., a developer of radar technology for autonomous vehicles, raised US$ 3 million in seed funding.
The round was led by Rhapsody Venture Partners and other investors include Vas Ventures and NOMO Ventures.
SWFI – Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute
https://www.swfinstitute.org/swf-news/softbank-vision-fund-rides-hard-on-nuro/
SoftBank’s next bet: $940M into autonomous delivery startup Nuro – TechCrunch