New Delhi:- Self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation, which aims to launch its self-driving truck business in 2024, has completed a $820 million funding round through a public offering and simultaneous public offering. The company expects the transaction to close on Friday.

The company said the stock sale will help fund Aurora from the second half of next year until its commercial launch "by 2025." Aurora said in November 2022 that it had enough cash by mid-2024. The pre-income company has repeatedly said it needs to be refinanced to allow for launch and beyond.

A leaked memo in September 2022 revealed that Aurora CEO Chris Urmson was considering many options to keep the company liquid, including spinoffs, layoffs, acquisitions and, of course, salary increases. In the memo, Mr. Urmson said it made sense to "find a way to raise $300 million over the next year to extend the runway by about six months." 

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In April, Aurora applied for a mixed bid proposal to raise $350 million. “We have always been transparent and insisted we needed to raise more money before we could launch and monetize,” Aurora spokeswoman Rachel Chibidakis told TechCrunch. “This significant capital increase is expected to enable the launch of our self-driving truck business, which is planned from next year until 2025.”

Aurora, which prioritizes the commercialization of self-driving trucks, has pilot partnerships with FedEx, Packer, Schneider, Werner and Express. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that when it goes live, it will operate about 20 trucks between Dallas and Houston to move cargo for driverless customers.

Aurora did not specify what she plans to do with the money. The company's prospectus is vague, saying Aurora will use the funds for "working capital and other general corporate purposes." A portion of the funds will be invested in short- and medium-term investment grade products. A portion of the proceeds may also be used to acquire or invest in additional businesses, technologies, products and assets, the company said in a filing. 

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The increase is divided into two parts. Aurora will sell 73,333,333 shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $3 per share, or $220 million. The company also plans to privately sell 222,222,216 shares at a price of $2.70 a share, or $600 million, according to a prospectus filed Tuesday.

The stock closed at $3.22 on Tuesday but plummeted to $2.87 in after-hours trading. Aurora shares closed at $2.92 on Thursday. Aurora has not announced when it will announce its second-quarter results. At that point, the company will likely develop a funding plan. The company said in its filing that it plans to report cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $785 million as of June 30, 2023. This figure does not include $820 million from stock sales.

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The name of the investor will be announced after the transaction closes on Friday. Aurora said only that many existing institutional and strategic investors participated in the capital increase. 

Aurora to launch autonomous trucking business has raised private shares for self-funding and are expecting to close the deal on Friday as the business is very wide and can expand on a very wide range.