Waymo Raises $2.5 Billion in Funding Round

Waymo’s ride-hailing service shuttles around customers in minivans without a person behind the wheel.



Photo:

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Waymo LLC said it raised $2.5 billion in its latest investment round as it seeks to continue developing its autonomous-driving technology for passenger cars and in freight hauling.

The funding for the self-driving affiliate of Google parent

Alphabet Inc.

GOOG -0.27%

comes amid a period of heightened interest and competition in the auto industry. Several electric-vehicle upstarts, inspired by

Tesla Inc.’s

surging valuation, have turned to the public markets for additional funding.

The company on Wednesday said it wants to use Waymo Driver technology to move people and goods. Its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, has had thousands of trips in metro Phoenix where some customers are shuttled around in minivans without a person behind the wheel, Waymo said. Waymo is conducting tests of its autonomous vehicle technology with riders in San Francisco.

For its Waymo Via delivery unit, the company said it has joined with

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

to move freight across the country. Its clients on a local level include

United Parcel Service Inc.

and

AutoNation Inc.

Waymo said existing investors Alphabet, private-equity firm Silver Lake, venture-capital giant Andreessen Horowitz and car-dealership chain AutoNation Inc. participated in the funding round, along with Fidelity Management & Research Co. and others.

Waymo remains the leader in autonomy, with more vehicles on the road and operations than anyone else in the field. However, it faces challenges as it looks to expand its fleet of robotaxis to other cities. Waymo has to secure government approval to operate, persuade local citizens to ride and monitor performance as the vehicles navigate local roads.

The company in April promoted

Dmitri Dolgov

and

Tekedra Mawakana

to co-chief executives from their previous roles as chief technology and operating officers to lead a decade-old effort to make self-driving cars a reality after

John Krafcik

stepped aside from his CEO role.

Waymo first took outside money last year, raising $3.25 billion, since Google began to develop the technology.

While Tesla and others already offer assisted-driving features, startups Waymo, Cruise, TuSimple and Aurora are betting their autonomous vehicles will make driving a thing of the past. WSJ asked them about safety and other challenges they face. Photo composite: George Downs

Write to Dave Sebastian at [email protected]

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Appeared in the June 17, 2021, print edition as ‘Alphabet’s Waymo Raises $2.5 Billion In Funding Round.’

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