Technology
Self-driving truck startup Aurora Innovation raises $483M in pre-market stock sale
Self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation had hoped to boost tons of of hundreds of thousands in additional capital because it races to bring autonomous vehicles to market by the top of 2024. The company, which had planned to sell as much as $420 million in shares, exceeded its goal and $483 million raised.
The recent funding comes slightly over a yr after Aurora raised $820 million in capital through a public and simultaneous private equity offering.
“This raise is a testament to investor confidence in Aurora’s ability to be a company for the long term. It was inspired by our recent Analyst Day, where investors were able to experience rides in our self-driving trucks, as well as recent milestones that underscore the strength of our partner ecosystem to enable large-scale deployments,” company spokeswoman Rachel Chibidakis told TechCrunch in an email.
Aurora made its public debut in 2021 via a special purpose acquisition merger, and its shares opened at $13.12. Aurora shares closed Friday at $3.84. The stock was up greater than 2% in after-market trading.
Aurora is pursuing a driver-as-a-service model, in which carriers buy trucks with Aurora Driver technology on board after which offer their services through those trucks to shippers. But the corporate plans to enter the market as a carrier, offering as much as 20 autonomous Paccar and Volvo trucks to shippers later this yr.
Aurora on Thursday first disclosed plans to sell as much as $420 million value of Class A typical stock to underwriters Goldman Sachs, Allen & Company and Morgan Stanley, based on SEC filingThursday’s deal comes a day after Aurora filed a prospectus for the sale $350 million value of shares. An individual acquainted with the matter told TechCrunch that as a consequence of strong investor demand, the offering was increased to $420 million.
Aurora expected net proceeds from the sale to be roughly $405 million, or roughly $466 million “if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in their entirety,” after deducting customary offering discounts, commissions and expenses, based on updated notificationThe deal closed Friday afternoon, raising the quantity to $483 million.
Aurora didn’t reply to questions Thursday about the way it intends to make use of the web proceeds. Thursday’s filing provided little guidance, stating vaguely that the corporate would use the cash for “working capital and other general corporate purposes.” The company also said in its filing that it will first invest the proceeds from the offering in “short-term and long-term investment vehicles, certificates of deposit or guaranteed obligations.”
Aurora provided more details after the deal closed on Friday.
“This occasional raise gives us runway through 2026, putting us on track to deploy autonomous trucks at scale and become a cash-flow positive company, which we expect to be in 2028,” Chibidakis said, adding that as the corporate approaches its planned launch, enthusiasm is growing. “Our continued momentum and more favorable market conditions have made this an opportune time to raise additional capital.”
The offer to boost additional funds comes as Aurora reports second-quarter results. As of June 30, 2024, Aurora had $402 million in money and money equivalents and $618 million in short-term investments. Excluding the proceeds from the offering, the corporate expects this to be enough to fund operations through the fourth quarter of 2025.
In the second quarter of 2024, Aurora spent $198 million, which is a direct loss because the startup just isn’t yet generating any revenue.
The company is about to start industrial service on the Uber Freight network later this yr. In June, the 2 corporations announced a multi-year partnership that may see Aurora’s self-driving technology offered on the Uber Freight network by 2030.
Technology
US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident
Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.
In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”
Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.
Technology
It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500
Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.
The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.
The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.
More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)
Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.
The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.
Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.
In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.
Technology
Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers
According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.
However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.
Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.
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