U.S. autonomous vehicle technology group Waymo has announce its latest investment round of $2.5 billion. It will use use this new funding to continue advancing the Waymo Driver, as well as continuing to grow its team.
Companies that participated in this round include its parent company Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation, Magna International and Mubadala Investment Company.
Waymo is building and deploying the Waymo Driver to serve riders, deliver parcels, move freight, and eventually, to empower personal car ownership.
Through its delivery business unit, Waymo Via, it’s also working with freight partners, including J.B. Hunt, to efficiently move freight cross-country with our growing fleet of Class 8 trucks. On a local level, Waymo Via delivers safely and efficiently on behalf of our clients, including UPS and AutoNation.
The add: We’re the first company to operate a fully autonomous, public ride-hailing service – Waymo One, and we’ve served thousands of rider-only trips in Metro Phoenix. We’ve been driving in San Francisco and the Bay Area since we first started in 2009, and most recently San Francisco residents are seeing the Waymo Driver on our growing fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles throughout the city. We’re building the most advanced technology stack for urban driving, and we’re partnering with key community organizations as we shape our product’.
Waymo‘s first external fundraise was updated to $3.2 billion as of July 30, 2020.
