Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle startup Aurora Innovation Inc. is weighing the possibility of selling itself to Microsoft Corp. or Apple Inc., amid other options, as the company considers a response to ongoing market conditions and timeline delays by various partners.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Aurora (NASDAQ: AUR) CEO and Co-Founder Chris Urmson "inadvertently sent" a memo to staff outlining this plan as well as potential cost-cutting measures in a message that was originally intended solely for the company's board. In that memo, Urmson also reportedly suggested measures like taking the company private, spinning off or selling certain company assets and pursuing a small capital raise to extend the company's runway, Bloomberg reported.
An Aurora spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the memo in the Bloomberg story to the Pittsburgh Business Times and issued the following statement: "Given the current macro conditions, every company should be going through the exercise of evaluating its options and long-term strategy. … We think that thinking through things like this is a positive sign and a mark of good governance."
Aurora's stock price has fallen drastically since its original public debut last fall and during a timeframe that's been unfavorable to many tech companies around the country. The stock peaked at $17.77 per share shortly after listing and fell as low as $1.83 per share earlier this summer. Its after-hours trading rate listed at $2.43 per share on Friday, giving the company a $2.8 billion market cap.
"Given our current stock price we should be an appealing target for any entity looking to own the future of automated driving," Urmson wrote in the memo according to Bloomberg. "Of potentially appealing landing places, there are only a few: Apple, Microsoft, or potentially a Tier 1," a reference to a large auto-parts supplier.
Aurora went public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company on Nov. 4, 2021, raising about $1.8 billion in the process. It has since spent about $250 million of those funds as it continues to develop its autonomous driving technology for trucks and passenger vehicles.
The company has said that the funds raised from its IPO are set to last the company until the eventual commercialization of its autonomous trucking product, which it initially planned to ship in late 2023. That's since been delayed to 2024 as learned during the company's most recent earnings call in August.
"With the delivery of the truck platforms, we expect to be able to complete upfit, bring up and final validation of the integration of the Aurora Driver with the truck platform in preparation for release of a scalable trucking product by the end of 2024," Urmson said during the Aug. 3 earnings call. "While progress has been strong, these programs are not immune to recent industry challenges."
Urmson founded Aurora in 2016 alongside fellow co-founders Sterling Anderson, its chief product officer, and Drew Bagnell, its chief scientist. All three had previous autonomous vehicle experience at different companies before joining together to launch Aurora. It employs about 1,800 workers, the majority of whom reside and work in Pittsburgh.
