Waymo simply raised $5.6 billion to unfold robotaxis to extra cities

Waymo simply accomplished an oversubscribed funding spherical of $5.6 billion, its largest funding spherical thus far. The corporate mentioned it is going to use the funds to help its robotaxi enterprise in its present markets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, in addition to convey it to new cities, like Austin and Atlanta, the place its autos can be accessible solely on the Uber app.

Waymo additionally hinted at future “enterprise purposes” for its “Waymo Driver,” which is the corporate’s branding for the {hardware} and software program used to allow its autos to drive autonomously. This may very well be a reference to meals and package deal deliveries, trucking, and even personally owned autonomous autos — all potentialities that Waymo has explored previously.

The funding spherical was led by Waymo’s mother or father firm Alphabet, and included buyers like Andreessen Horowitz, Constancy, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger International, and T. Rowe Worth. Contributors within the spherical lauded Waymo for its technological developments, dedication to security, and superior product expertise.

“The corporate has constructed the most secure product within the autonomous car ecosystem in addition to the most effective,” mentioned Chase Coleman, founding father of Tiger International, in a press release supplied by Waymo

The sequence C spherical brings Waymo’s complete capital raised to $11.1 billion, after elevating $3 billion and $2.5 billion in two earlier rounds. Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat mentioned earlier this yr that the corporate would make investments $5 billion within the self-driving unit over a number of years.

Whereas a number of firms are testing autonomous autos on public roads throughout the nation, Waymo is almost alone in providing a business service to prospects. The corporate’s driverless autos have pushed over 25 million miles thus far. In August, Waymo mentioned it crossed the edge of offering 100,000 buyer journeys each week.

However Waymo nonetheless is a money-loser. Alphabet’s “Different Bets,” which incorporates the driverless firm, introduced in $365 million in the course of the second quarter of this yr, up from $285 million in Q2 2023. However the division misplaced $1.1 billion on working revenue, a rise over $813 million misplaced in 2023. (Alphabet will report its third quarter outcomes on October twenty ninth.)

Waymo plans to launch robotaxi operations in Atlanta and Austin in 2025, the place its autos can be solely accessible on the Uber app. The corporate has additionally just lately started testing out routes in San Francisco and Phoenix that use freeways, in an effort to change into a extra helpful service to extra prospects. And Waymo is testing totally different climate circumstances and extra advanced city environments in Buffalo, New York Metropolis, and Washington, DC.