Waymo Closes $5.6 Billion Funding Round
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Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving unit, raised $5.6 billion from investors, its largest-ever funding round.
The investment round was led by Google parent Alphabet and included participation from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and big-name finance groups Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price Group and others, Waymo said in a statement Oct. 25.
Waymo is one of a large pack of startups and companies pursuing robotaxi services in the U.S. It runs a commercial ride-hailing platform in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, where it charges fares for rides in self-driving cars. Waymo also recently partnered with Uber Technologies Inc. to offer rides through its app in new markets Austin and Atlanta, starting next year.
Earlier this year, Alphabet pledged to invest as much as $5 billion over several years to help the startup build its autonomous driving technology. Waymo didn’t specify how much of this round Alphabet accounted for. Waymo’s valuation was not disclosed.
Alphabet shares were up 1.6% to $165.26 at 10:10 a.m. Friday in New York.
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