(Reuters) -Self-driving startup Aurora said on Thursday it had agreed to merge with a Silicon Valley heavyweights Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus-backed blank-check firm in a deal that gives the combined company a pro-forma market capitalization of $13 billion.
The deal with Reinvent Technology Partners Y will include a private placement of $1 billion from investors such as Baillie Gifford, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Uber Technologies Inc and Volvo Group.
Founded in 2017, Aurora is led by former heads of self-driving programs at Google, Uber Technologies Inc and Tesla Inc.
Reinvent, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by Zynga Inc co-founder Pincus and LinkedIn co-founder Hoffman, raised $850 million through an initial public offering (IPO) in March.
SPACs are publicly listed shell companies that raise funds with the intention of merging with a private entity within two years of floating their shares, thereby taking the private company public.
Aurora is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq after the merger under the new ticker symbol “AUR”.