Waymo has successfully closed an oversubscribed investment round of $5.6 billion, led by its parent company Alphabet Inc., to enhance its robotaxi services in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The announcement was made on Friday.
Prominent investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price participated in this funding round. The capital raised will be utilized to increase rider capacity for Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing services in the aforementioned cities, with plans to add Austin and Atlanta by 2025 through an expanded partnership with Uber.
Additionally, a portion of the funds will be directed towards advancing Waymo's autonomous driving technology. Currently, Waymo operates a fleet of all-electric vehicles capable of autonomous driving, providing over 100,000 paid rides each week.
In July, Alphabet announced a multiyear investment of $5 billion into Waymo to support its aim of becoming the leader in autonomous driving technology. Waymo is recognized as a frontrunner in the U.S. autonomous vehicle market, especially following the suspension of operations by General Motors' Cruise due to regulatory scrutiny.