Nuro company profile: valuation, funding & revenue

This Nuro company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Nuro works in autonomous vehicles, with a focus on self-driving software. It was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States. Its latest valuation on record is US$6 billion (August 2025). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.

Revenue

Funding history

Nuro timeline

Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.

• 2016 — Nuro is founded in Mountain View by Jiajun Zhu (CEO) and Dave Ferguson (President).
• Aug 2025 — Series E: US$203M, valuing the company at US$6B. Investors: Uber, Nvidia, Baillie Gifford and others.

Investors

Overview

Nuro develops self-driving technology. It began by building small, driverless electric vehicles designed to deliver groceries and packages without a human on board, and became one of the first companies to receive US federal and state approvals to operate such vehicles on public roads. In 2024 it changed strategy, shifting from operating its own delivery fleet to licensing its autonomous driving system, the Nuro Driver, to carmakers and mobility companies. Its most prominent deal is with Uber and the electric carmaker Lucid, under which Uber plans to deploy a large fleet of Lucid Gravity vehicles equipped with the Nuro Driver as robotaxis.

Nuro was founded in 2016 by Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson, both early engineers on Google's self-driving car project, which became Waymo. In August 2025 it closed a US$203 million Series E at a US$6 billion valuation, with participation from Uber, Nvidia and Baillie Gifford, according to the company's announcement on Business Wire. That valuation was below the roughly US$8.6 billion it reached in 2021, reflecting the broader reset in autonomous vehicle valuations.

Products

• Nuro Driver: a self-driving software and hardware system, combining sensors, computing and AI, that can be integrated into passenger and commercial vehicles.
• Robotaxi programme: the Nuro Driver integrated into Lucid Gravity SUVs for Uber's ride-hailing network.
• Driver assistance: potential advanced driver assistance features for consumer cars, using the same technology.
• Delivery vehicles: its earlier purpose-built R2 and R3 delivery vehicles, which demonstrated driverless operation for partners such as Kroger and Domino's.

Funding

Nuro raised large rounds from investors including Greylock, SoftBank Vision Fund, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity and Tiger Global. A 2021 Series D reportedly valued it at about US$8.6 billion. In August 2025 it announced a US$203 million Series E at US$6 billion, which included new strategic investment from Uber alongside Nvidia and Baillie Gifford. Uber's investment accompanied the robotaxi agreement with Lucid, in which Uber also committed to invest in Lucid.

Business model

Under its licensing strategy, Nuro earns fees from partners that use the Nuro Driver, which could include upfront development payments, per-vehicle licence fees and ongoing software fees. This approach requires less capital than operating fleets, because partners buy and operate the vehicles. Its success depends on partners deploying vehicles at scale and on the Nuro Driver meeting safety and performance requirements.

Competition

Nuro competes with Waymo, which operates robotaxis in several US cities; Tesla, which is developing robotaxis using its own vehicles; Zoox, owned by Amazon; Wayve and Waabi, which also offer AI-based driving systems; Mobileye, which licenses driver assistance and autonomy technology; and Chinese companies such as Baidu Apollo, Pony.ai and WeRide. Nuro's differentiation lies in its long experience operating driverless vehicles and its licensing focus.

Nuro at a glance

Nuro is a Mountain View autonomous driving company founded in 2016 by former Google self-driving engineers Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson. It licenses its Nuro Driver system to automakers and mobility companies, including a robotaxi programme with Uber and Lucid. It raised a US$203 million Series E at a US$6 billion valuation in August 2025, with Uber, Nvidia and Baillie Gifford participating.

Timeline

• 2016: founded by Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson.
• 2018: begins driverless grocery delivery pilots.
• 2020: receives a US federal exemption and California permits for driverless delivery vehicles.
• 2021: raises a Series D at a reported valuation of about US$8.6 billion.
• 2022–2023: reduces staff as it adjusts strategy.
• 2024: pivots to licensing the Nuro Driver.
• 2025: announces the Uber and Lucid robotaxi programme; raises US$203 million at US$6 billion.

Why Nuro pivoted to licensing

Operating autonomous delivery fleets proved expensive. It required designing and manufacturing custom vehicles, building depots, maintaining fleets and slowly expanding city by city. Revenue per delivery was small relative to these costs. Meanwhile, carmakers and ride-hailing companies wanted autonomous technology but lacked mature systems of their own. By licensing its technology, Nuro could reach scale through partners' manufacturing and customer networks, while focusing its resources on software and AI. The trade-off is less control over deployment and dependence on partners' decisions.

The Uber and Lucid programme

In 2025 Uber, Lucid and Nuro announced a partnership under which Lucid Gravity electric SUVs would be equipped with the Nuro Driver and deployed on Uber's network as robotaxis, starting in a major US city. Uber said it planned to deploy a large fleet over several years. The deal combined Lucid's vehicle, Nuro's autonomy and Uber's customers. It is one of several partnerships Uber has signed with autonomous vehicle companies, as Uber seeks to offer robotaxis without developing the technology itself.

AI-first self-driving

Early self-driving systems relied heavily on hand-written rules and detailed maps. Newer approaches, which Nuro and others describe as "AI-first", use large neural networks trained on vast amounts of driving data to handle perception, prediction and planning. These systems can generalise better to new situations and cities. Nvidia's participation in Nuro's funding reflects the importance of high-performance computing, both in vehicles and in data centres for training.

Who funds Nuro

Nuro's investors include Uber, Nvidia, Baillie Gifford, Tiger Global, SoftBank Vision Fund and Greylock.

Valuation context

Nuro's valuation fell from about US$8.6 billion in 2021 to US$6 billion in 2025, a pattern seen across autonomous vehicle companies as timelines lengthened. Waymo's expansion and robotaxi deals have revived investor interest. Our guide to autonomous vehicle companies compares Nuro with peers.

Risks

• Partner dependence: revenue depends on partners deploying vehicles at scale.
• Safety and regulation: incidents could slow approvals and public acceptance.
• Competition: Waymo, Tesla and Chinese companies are moving fast.
• Down round history: its latest valuation is below its 2021 peak.

Questions for partners

• What safety record and validation data support the Nuro Driver?
• How much integration work is needed for a new vehicle platform?
• How are licence fees structured?
• Which cities and conditions can the system handle today?

What to watch

Watch the launch and scale of the Uber and Lucid robotaxi service, new licensing partners, safety data and further funding.

Takeaways

Carmakers and mobility companies can license autonomy instead of building it. Founders can see how a strategic pivot can preserve a company's value. Investors should watch whether partners deploy at scale.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.

1. Business Wire (company press release)