Autonomous driving startup Nuro raises $106M in funding at $6B valuation to scale its AI-powered delivery robots

Nuro, the autonomous delivery startup founded by two ex-Google engineers, has raised $106 million in fresh funding, pushing its valuation to $6 billion, the company announced on Wednesday. The Series E round is the company’s first major raise in over three years.

The fresh funding comes from a mix of new and existing backers, including T. Rowe Price Associates, Fidelity, Tiger Global, Greylock Partners, and XN. Nuro says more strategic partners joined the round, and it plans to name them in a separate announcement soon.

This round brings Nuro’s total funding to $2.2 billion since its inception about a decade ago. The new capital will go toward scaling Nuro’s AI-based delivery platform and deepening its commercial partnerships.

Founded in 2016 by ex-Google engineers Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, Nuro is building AI-powered delivery systems designed to operate without a human driver. The company’s tech powers everything from custom delivery bots to integrations with robotaxis and consumer vehicles.

“We’re excited to see strong investor enthusiasm for our Series E,” said Jiajun Zhu, Nuro’s co-founder and CEO. “Our technology, years of experience with driver-out Level 4 deployments, and focus on licensing uniquely position us to help automakers, mobility platforms, and commercial fleets accelerate their autonomy roadmaps.”

Nuro builds physical AI systems focused on autonomous delivery, offering products like the Level 4 Nuro Driver™ and Level 2++ Nuro Driver™ Assist. These are built to slot into a range of vehicles — from robotaxis to delivery vans — with the aim of removing the need for a human behind the wheel.

Instead of manufacturing its own consumer vehicles, Nuro is licensing its platform to other companies. That opens the door to integrations across commercial fleets and personal vehicles without building everything from scratch.

You might’ve seen Nuro’s name pop up in partnership headlines. In 2021, it teamed up with Domino’s to bring robotic pizza deliveries to parts of Houston. Instead of a driver showing up with your order, Nuro’s R2 robot rolled up on its own. Customers got a text, tracked the delivery in real-time, and entered a pin to pop the doors open and grab their food.

Beyond pizza, Nuro’s worked with Chipotle and Kroger, handling grocery and meal deliveries with its custom-built vehicles. These partnerships gave the company real-world experience moving goods without a driver on board — something few others have done at scale.

Nuro says it’s still focused on making deliveries cheaper and easier for businesses and customers alike. With the new funding, the company looks set to expand its reach — not by building more robots itself, but by becoming the go-to tech provider behind autonomous fleets.

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