Self-driving startup Aurora Innovation Inc. announced on Thursday it raised more than $530 million in a Series B finance round led by Sequoia Capital, bringing up the company's valuation near $2.5 billion. Other Series B investors include Amazon.com Inc. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc., while Greylock Partners and Index Ventures provided financing in the previous round.
Carl Eschenbach, a partner at Sequoia, will be joining Aurora's board which already includes LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Index Ventures partner Mike Volpi.
"This is the dream team of self-driving vehicles. Aurora has the best team across the industry and the best shot of being the most disruptive force going forward," Eschenbach said in an interview.
Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora, said the funding will be used to building the company's engineering, human resources, public relations, and operations teams. The California-based startup has previously partnered up with Volkswagen, Hyundai and another electric car startup Byton.
