To increase its budget runway, the US-based autonomous delivery robot business Nuro has announced that it will be firing 340 employees, or 30% of its workforce.
According to TechCrunch, the co-founders of Nuro, Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, stated in May 2023 that the American start-up would lay off employees and reallocate resources from commercial operations to R&D.
Nuro will put a halt to its efforts to expand its business operations in 2023 and postpone R3’s volume manufacturing. The R3 is a third-generation delivery robot. By implementing these modifications, the company will be able to function for twice as long, providing it with enough capital to operate for an additional three years without raising further funds, claim Ferguson and Zhu.
Nuro wrote in a blog post, “We will now pursue a more sequential development methodology. In the past, we developed autonomy technologies, designed and manufactured unique cars, and simultaneously deployed commercial pilots with partners.”
“Nuro will not only survive this economic crisis with our new strategy, but we also expect to come out stronger after it,” the founder stated further.
Nuro has fired employees twice to reduce expenses and increase the capital runway.
The company had cut around 300 employees, or 20% of its staff, in November 2022.
The report also stated that eligible employees would receive 62.5% of the target bonus (prorated for new hires) or spring bonus amounts for employees who receive a biannual performance bonus.
In addition, those laid off will also receive 12 weeks of severance pay plus two additional weeks for workers with two or more years of service.
This is the second time in less than a year that Nuro, which has raised funding of USD 2.13 billion, has laid off workers in a bid to cut costs and extend the capital runway.
While this happens, web services provider Akamai Technologies is cutting up to 3% of its global employees to focus on its most profitable markets.
Approximately 300 people are expected to be impacted by the layoffs, according to sources.