By Chuck Martin
Softbank is investing $940 million into Nuro, the robotics company that makes self-driving vehicles for deliveries.
Nuro has now raised more than $1 billion from the Softbank Vision Fund, Greylock Partners and Gaorong Capital.
Nuro launched its custom unmanned vehicles last year and in December started working with Kroger for the delivery of groceries to the general public.
“Kroger customers are looking for new, convenient ways to feed their families and purchase the products they need quickly through services like pickup and delivery,” Yael Cosset, Kroger’s chief digital officer, stated at the time. “Our autonomous delivery pilot over the past few months continues to prove the benefit of the flexible and reliable technology.”
In the Kroger program, customers of Fry’s Food Stores can place delivery orders for delivery seven days a week and can be scheduled for same-day or next-day delivery by Nuro’s fleet of R1s for a flat fee of $5.95.
“We’ve spent the last two and a half years launching our first unmanned service, working with partners and creating technology to fundamentally improve our daily lives,” stated Nuro co-founder Dave Ferguson. “This partnership gives us the opportunity to take the next step in realizing our vision for local commerce and the broad application of our technology.”
Nuro plans to use the new financing to expand to additional geographies, add partners and scale its fleet, according the company.
