San Francisco — Waymo, Google parent company Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, has completed a $16 billion funding round, valuing the company at $110 billion, as it accelerates its global expansion plans.
Alphabet is expected to contribute more than three-quarters of the funding, while new investors include Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer, and DST Global, alongside increased participation from existing backers such as Andreessen Horowitz and Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala.
According to people familiar with the deal, the funding round was significantly oversubscribed, reflecting growing investor confidence in Waymo’s position within the autonomous mobility market.
Waymo reported that its annual recurring revenue has surpassed $350 million, supported by the rapid expansion of its robotaxi operations. The company has logged more than 125 million fully autonomous miles on U.S. roads and expects to reach one million rides per week in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami.
The company is continuing to expand internationally, with testing underway in cities such as London and Tokyo, while also preparing to roll out additional vehicle models to reduce operational costs.
Waymo’s autonomous vehicles operate at Level 4 autonomy, requiring no driver supervision, positioning the company ahead of rivals including Tesla, which continues to develop its own robotaxi service.
Waymo was originally launched as a self-driving project within Google’s X lab in 2009 before being spun out as a standalone business in 2016.
Source: Financial Times
