Driverless technology startup Aurora Innovation Inc. has agreed to go public via a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, a blank-check firm led by executives including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga Inc. founder Mark Pincus, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
The transaction’s valuation couldn’t immediately be learned. TechCrunch in early June reported that Aurora and the Reinvent SPAC were in talks for a deal close to $12 billion. An agreement is set to be announced as soon as Thursday, the people with knowledge of the matter said.
Representatives for Aurora and Reinvent declined to comment.
Aurora is led by CEO Chris Urmson, and Hoffman is a board member. In March, the Silicon Valley-based startup, added Volvo Group to its list of partners to develop self-driving trucks. Paccar Inc. joined with Aurora in January for a similar development deal. Aurora has said its investors include Amazon.com, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp.
Aurora’s technology relies on innovations in lidar, which uses lasers to build a three-dimensional image of the surrounding landscape and help plot routes around obstacles in the road. It uses a technology that is designed to allow vehicles to “see” farther and faster and is critical at highway speeds.
Reinvent Technology Partners Y raised $978 million in a March initial public offering. Earlier Reinvent SPACs have separately agreed to merge with flying taxi startup Joby Aviation and insurance technology platform Hippo.
