Aug 21 (Reuters) - Self-driving vehicle startup Nuro

closed its late-stage funding round on Thursday, raising $203

million at a $6 billion valuation from new investors Uber ( UBER )

and Nvidia ( NVDA ) alongside returning backers.

The latest tranche of $97 million follows the $106 million

announced in April, which included investors such as T. Rowe

Price, Fidelity, and Tiger Global.

The company's valuation in the latest funding round is lower

than the $8.6 billion it was valued at in 2021, according to

Pitchbook data.

Many startups that became unicorns during the 2021 funding

boom are now raising capital at lower valuations as investors'

attention turns toward artificial intelligence.

"The change reflects broader market conditions and this is a

strong outcome for the current market environment," a Nuro

spokesperson said.

Nuro has been pushing to scale its self-driving platform and

expand commercial partnerships.

Founded in 2016, Nuro has pivoted from delivery robots to

licensing its Nuro Driver technology for use in robotaxis,

commercial fleets, and personal vehicles.

Nuro partnered with EV maker Lucid and Uber ( UBER ) to

launch a global robotaxi service. Uber ( UBER ) plans to deploy over

20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro's system across

dozens of markets over six years starting in 2026.