Aurora, a start-up developing hardware and software for self-driving cars, is going public through a SPAC merger, with the transaction valued at $13 billion.

The deal between the Silicon Valley based-Aurora with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, a special purpose acquisition company formed by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus, is expected to close this year.

According to CNBC inputs, the merged company will be set up with $2.5 billion in cash.

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The financial tactic allows a private company to begin trading shares under the auspices of an already established entity without going through a traditional initial public offering of stock.

“We believe Aurora will be the first to commercialize self-driving technology at scale for the US trucking and passenger transportation markets based on its industry-leading team, technology and partnerships,” Pincus said in a release, according to AFP inputs.

Meanwhile, Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson has tagged the merger as “a natural next step” for the company. “This will unlock the capital we need to deliver the Aurora driver as a service at scale.”

Once completed, Aurora will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AUR with a valuation of $11 billion.

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Aurora was established in 2017 by industry veterans who had done stints at Google, Tesla and Uber. Its backers include e-commerce colossus Amazon, Fiat Chrysler, and South Korean carmaker Hyundai.

“Our goal at Aurora is to make the movement of goods and people more equitable, productive, dependable, and — crucially — much safer than it is today,” Urmson said in the release, according to AFP inputs.

“By combining with Reinvent and with this incredible group of investors, we are even closer to deploying self-driving vehicles and delivering the benefits this technology offers the world.”

Uber agreed to sell its autonomous car business to Aurora in December in a transaction that granted the ride-hailing giant a share in the self-driving company.

Aurora has an array of competitors in the self-driving race, including the Waymo unit owned by Google-parent Alphabet.

Waymo opened its Robo-taxi project to the general public in the US city of Phoenix late last year, becoming the first widely available driverless ride service.