In an effort to appease shareholders, Aurora Innovation said it will have enough money to continue to develop its technology until mid-2024.
The company said it has enough cash and short-term investments to last until the year 2094. A commercial self-driving truck operation is in the works.
Aurora tried to calm investors. The company's stock went up after the market closed.
Shifting priorities and economic uncertainty are what the statements are at the moment. Ford and VW decided to stop funding the project, which led to the sudden shutting down of the company. More resources are being put into advanced driver assistance systems that promise to deliver revenue in the near term.
The shift towards ADAS has been going on for nearly two years. The trend could be accelerated by inflation and tighter credit, as well as the success of Mobileye.
The CFO said during the investor call that Aurora would have to raise more funds even though it has cash on hand. It is not known if that capital raise will take place before the deadline. The company wouldn't say when the event would happen.
In a memo leaked in September, the CEO wrote to the board that there was a path to raise $300 million in the next year. Aurora may be able to make it to 2024 with the funds it currently has, but only if it keeps costs in line.
During the third quarter, Aurora reported a loss from operations of $200 million, which is up from the $128 million reported during the same quarter of last year, but down from the nearly $1 billion in losses from the second quarter of 2020. The startup wouldn't need to raise more cash before commercial launch if it were able to maintain a $200 million net loss over the course of the next four quarters. Aurora will incur a lot of costs to scale and bring its product to market. What's the upshot? Aurora will have to find ways to save money.
Aurora could go private or even sell itself to high-profile tech companies according to the leaked memo. During its earnings call, Aurora didn't mention any of the possible realities, but that doesn't mean they're off the table.
Aurora has prioritized the commercialization of freight through partnerships with companies like FedEx. The company is working with Toyota to launch a subscription service for ride hailing. The company unveiled its test fleet of custom built Toyotas. Revenue from Toyota was recognized by Aurora in the third quarter.
Aurora unveils fleet management platform to optimize autonomous operations
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