Meet Nuro: The company right in the middle of the rise of autonomous vehicles

The autonomous vehicle sector was rocked this week when Lucid Group (LCID) announced a three-way partnership with Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) and privately held Nuro to deploy at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro’s L4 autonomous technology on the Uber (NYSE:UBER) network over the next six years.

Notably, prototypes of the vehicle are currently undergoing testing at Nuro’s Las Vegas proving grounds, with the official launch expected later next year in a major U.S. city. Uber (NYSE:UBER) will license Nuro Driver technology and will own and operate the vehicles, along with its third-party fleet partners. Uber (UBER) also plans to fire off a $300 million investment in Lucid Group (LCID) as well as an additional investment in Nuro.

While Uber (UBER) and Lucid (LCID) are better known, Nuro is still a bit of a mystery. The robotics and autonomous vehicle technology company was founded in September 2016 by Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson, two former engineers from Google’s (GOOG) self-driving car project, which evolved into Waymo. The Mountain View, California-based company initially focused on developing small, electric, self-driving vehicles optimized for last-mile delivery. Nuro gained early attention in 2018 with the launch of its R1 prototype, followed by real-world pilots with major retailers. The company later became the first to receive a federal exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for operating autonomous vehicles without conventional controls such as steering wheels or pedals.

Nuro has a diverse investor base that includes Greylock Partners, Woven Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, T. Rowe Price, Ballie Gifford, and Fidelity. Chipotle (CMG) is also reportedly a strategic investor. The company has secured strategic partnerships with major U.S. retailers and tech firms such as Kroger (KR), Walmart (WMT), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), CVS Pharmacy (CVS), Chipotle (CMG), and Uber (UBER). Notably, Nuro has been working with its partners to deliver groceries, restaurant orders, and prescriptions through autonomous delivery vehicles across select U.S. cities.

Looking ahead, Nuro’s long-term vision includes licensing its Level 4 autonomous driving system to OEMs, mobility providers, and even private vehicle manufacturers, aiming to scale its technology across delivery services, ride-hailing fleets, and future personal vehicles.