Company:Nuro

From HandWiki
Nuro, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryRobotics
Founded2016; 9 years ago (2016)
Founders
  • Jiajun Zhu
  • Dave Ferguson
Headquarters
Mountain View, California
,
United States
Key people
Jiajun Zhu (CEO)
Number of employees
1,200 (2022)[1]
Websitenuro.ai

Nuro, Inc. is an American autonomous vehicle technology company based in Mountain View, California. Founded in 2016 by Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson,[2] Nuro develops autonomous delivery vehicles and became the first company to receive an autonomous exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).[3]

History

The company was founded by engineers of Google's self-driving car project, Waymo. Jiajun Zhu served as the principal software engineer and Dave Ferguson joined in 2011 as the principal machine learning engineer.[4][5] Both left Waymo in 2016 and founded Nuro that September.[6]

Nuro officially launched and showcased its first product, an electric self-driving local commerce delivery vehicle, in January 2018 with $92 million in funding from Greylock Partners and Gaorong Capital.[7] Known as the R1, it weighed 1,500 pounds (680 kg) and was just over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, about half the width of a sedan.[8] This vehicle was designed to carry only cargo, with space for 12 grocery bags in the first model.[8]

In June 2018, Nuro announced its first partnership with Kroger to test the fully autonomous delivery of groceries.[9]

The pilot launched on August 16, 2018, in Scottsdale, Arizona at a Fry's Food and Drug store. Initially, self-driving Toyota Prius cars were used for the pilot.[10][11][12] On December 18, 2018, the R1 was officially launched into the pilot.[13]

In February 2019, Nuro raised $940 million from SoftBank Group, which valued the company at $2.7 billion.[14]

On June 17, 2019, Nuro announced its partnership with Domino's Pizza[15] to launch in Houston later that year.[16]

In February 2020, Nuro began testing the R2, the second generation of self-driving vehicles, in Houston, Texas.[17] In April 2020, Nuro announced that the R2 prototype was being used to transport medical supplies around medical facilities in California.[18] The R2 was designed with no steering wheel, side view mirrors, or pedals.[19]

The company began prescription delivery through CVS Pharmacy in May 2020.[20] In November 2020, Nuro announced that they raised $500 million in their Series C funding round led by T. Rowe Price, with a post-money valuation of $5 billion.[21]

In December 2020, Nuro acquired self-driving trucking startup Ike Robotics.[22] Over 55 Ike employees joined Nuro's staff after the acquisition.[23][24]

Nuro announced its compact autonomous vehicle R3 design in January 2021.[25]

In August 2021, Nuro announced that it would spend $40 million on the construction of a manufacturing facility and test track for its self-driving robot vehicles, located in southern Nevada.[26] In December 2021, Nuro announced a partnership to commercially deliver 7-Eleven goods.[27]

In September 2022, Uber and Nuro announced a 10-year partnership for autonomous food deliveries, starting in California and Texas.[28] In November 2022, Nuro laid off 20 percent of its staff, or approximately 300 employees.[1] In May 2023, Nuro laid off 30 percent of its staff, or approximately 340 employees.[29]

In February 2024, the company launched a collaboration with Arm Holdings to develop its third-generation autonomous delivery vehicle.[30]

In July 2025, a partnership was established between Nuro, Uber, and Lucid Motors to launch a robotaxi fleet. Uber will purchase and operate Lucid Gravity SUV vehicles outfitted with Nuro Driver autonomous driving technology.[31][32] The partnership anticipates launching its first vehicle in 2026, with plans to deploy at least 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years.[31][32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hawkins, Andrew J. (November 18, 2022). "Robot delivery startup Nuro is laying off 20 percent of its workers". https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/18/23466684/nuro-layoff-av-autonomous-delivery-robot-self-driving. 
  2. ↑ Hawkins, Andrew J. (January 30, 2018). "Two ex-Google engineers built an entirely different kind of self-driving car". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/30/16936548/nuro-self-driving-delivery-last-mile-google. 
  3. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (May 22, 2020). "Autonomous delivery companies stress need for clearer rules on deployment" (in en-US). https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/22/autonomous-delivery-companies-stress-need-for-clearer-rules-on-deployment/. 
  4. ↑ Davies, Alex (June 28, 2018). "Get Yer Bread and Milk From Kroger's Cute New Delivery Robot". WIRED. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/story/nuro-grocery-delivery-robot/. 
  5. ↑ Bergen, Mark (June 11, 2018). "Nuro's Driverless Cars Don't Have to Worry About Passenger Safety". Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-11/nuro-s-driverless-cars-don-t-have-to-worry-about-passenger-safety. 
  6. ↑ Bhuiyan, Johana (September 15, 2016). "Meet the startup that two of Google's top self-driving engineers left to create". Recode (Vox). https://www.vox.com/2016/9/15/12921542/google-self-driving-startup-nuro. 
  7. ↑ "California start-up Nuro unveils autonomous delivery van, raises $92 million" (in en-US). Reuters. Reuters (San Francisco). January 30, 2018. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-nuro/california-start-up-nuro-unveils-autonomous-delivery-van-raises-92-million-idUSKBN1FJ1E7. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Davies, Alex (2018-01-30). "Nuro's Self-Driving R-1 Doesn't Drive You. It Drives Stuff." (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/story/nura-ai-startup-self-driving/. Retrieved February 26, 2023. 
  9. ↑ Dickey, Megan Rose (June 28, 2018). "Self-driving car startup Nuro teams up with Kroger for same-day grocery delivery" (in en-US). TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/28/self-driving-car-startup-nuro-teams-up-with-kroger-for-same-day-grocery-delivery/. 
  10. ↑ Dickey, Megan Rose (August 16, 2018). "Nuro and Kroger are deploying self-driving cars for grocery delivery in Arizona today" (in en-US). TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/16/nuro-and-kroger-are-deploying-self-driving-cars-for-grocery-delivery-in-arizona-today/. 
  11. ↑ Pollack, Neal (August 28, 2018). "Road-Testing the First Autonomous Car Grocery Delivery Service" (in en-US). The Drive. http://www.thedrive.com/tech/23196/road-testing-the-first-autonomous-car-grocery-delivery-service. 
  12. ↑ Rosenholtz, Jared (December 26, 2020). "The Toyota Prius Will Drive Itself Before Any Tesla" (in en-us). https://carbuzz.com/news/the-toyota-prius-will-drive-itself-before-any-tesla. 
  13. ↑ Lee, Timothy B. (December 18, 2018). "Kroger-owned grocery store begins fully driverless deliveries" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/12/kroger-owned-grocery-store-begins-fully-driverless-deliveries/. 
  14. ↑ "Driverless delivery startup Nuro gets $940 million SoftBank investment" (in en-US). Reuters. February 11, 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nuro-funding-softbank/driverless-delivery-startup-nuro-gets-940-million-softbank-investment-idUSKCN1Q01MI. 
  15. ↑ Davies, Alex (June 17, 2019). "Nuro's Pizza Robot Will Bring You a Domino's Pie". WIRED. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/story/nuro-dominos-pizza-delivery-self-driving-robot-houston/. 
  16. ↑ Murphy, Mike (June 17, 2019). "Dominos is about to start delivering pizzas with autonomous robots" (in en). https://qz.com/1644476/nuro-will-deliver-dominos-pizza-with-its-robots-in-houston/. "Nuro will deliver Domino's pizza with its robots in Houston" 
  17. ↑ "Self-driving delivery van ditches 'human controls'" (in en-GB). BBC News (BBC). February 6, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51409031. 
  18. ↑ Hawkins, Andrew (April 22, 2020). "Nuro is using delivery robots to help health care workers fighting COVID-19 – The self-driving delivery company is operating at two field hospitals in California". https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/22/21231466/nuro-delivery-robot-health-care-workers-food-supplies-california. 
  19. ↑ McFarland, Matt (February 6, 2020). "Autonomous delivery companies stress need for clearer rules on deployment" (in en-US). CNN. Washington, DC: CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/06/tech/nuro-self-driving-vehicle-houston-dot/index.html. "US clears the way for this self-driving vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals" 
  20. ↑ Korosec, Kirsten (May 28, 2020). "Nuro's self-driving vehicles to deliver prescriptions for CVS Pharmacy" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/28/nuros-self-driving-vehicles-to-delivery-prescriptions-for-cvs-pharmacy/. 
  21. ↑ Korosec, Kirsten (November 9, 2020). "Autonomous delivery startup Nuro hits $5 billion valuation on fresh funding of $500 million". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/09/autonomous-delivery-startup-nuro-hits-5-billion-valuation-on-fresh-funding-of-500-million/. 
  22. ↑ Schubarth, Cromwell (December 23, 2020). "Self-driving delivery unicorn Nuro picks up Ike Robotics". Silicon Valley Business Journal (American City Business Journals). https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2020/12/23/nuro-acquires-ike-robotics.html. 
  23. ↑ Korosec, Kirsten (December 23, 2020). "Nuro acquires autonomous trucking startup Ike". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/23/nuro-acquires-autonomous-trucking-startup-ike/. 
  24. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (December 23, 2020). "Nuro acquires self-driving truck startup Ike". https://venturebeat.com/2020/12/23/nuro-acquires-self-driving-truck-startup-ike/. 
  25. ↑ Wessling, Brianna (2022-01-12). "Nuro unveils third-generation autonomous delivery vehicle" (in en-US). https://www.therobotreport.com/nuro-unveils-third-generation-autonomous-delivery-vehicle/. 
  26. ↑ Hawkins, Andrew (August 26, 2021). "Nuro is building a factory and test track in Nevada for its autonomous delivery robots – The self-driving startup is dramatically expanding its footprint". https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/26/22642846/nuro-autonomous-delivery-factory-test-track-nevada. 
  27. ↑ Korosec, Kirsten (December 1, 2021). "Nuro and 7-Eleven to pilot autonomous delivery service in California" (in en). https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/01/nuro-7-eleven-autonomous-delivery-service-california/. 
  28. ↑ "Uber and Nuro Announce 10-Year Partnership for Autonomous Food Deliveries Starting in California and Texas". PRNewswire. San Francisco. September 8, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uber-and-nuro-announce-10-year-partnership-for-autonomous-food-deliveries-starting-in-california-and-texas-301618947.html. 
  29. ↑ "Nuro lays off 30 percent of staff, shifts focus to R&D" (in en-US). 2023-05-12. https://www.engadget.com/nuro-lays-off-30-percent-of-staff-shifts-focus-to-rd-204646216.html. 
  30. ↑ Hawkins, Andrew J. (2024-02-22). "Nuro gets a leg up from Arm in launching its third-generation delivery robot" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24079434/nuro-robot-delivery-arm-power-efficiency-range. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Uber Plans Fleet of 20,000 Robotaxis in Deal with Lucid, Nuro". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-17/uber-partnering-with-lucid-nuro-to-launch-robotaxis-in-2026?srnd=undefined&embedded-checkout=true. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 bio, See full. "Uber Unveils Global Robotaxi Plan With Lucid and Nuro" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/home/electric-vehicles/uber-announces-global-robotaxi-plan-with-lucid-and-nuro/. 



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