Waymo has raised a US$16 billion investment round, valuing the company at US$126 billion post-money.
In addition to Alphabet’s strong sustained support as Waymo’s majority investor, the financing was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, and included significant investments from Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital as well as Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.
Additional investors included BDT & MSD Partners, CapitalG, Fidelity Management & Research Company, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Perry Creek Capital, and Temasek, underscoring the Waymo Driver’s status as the world’s most trusted, proven, and scalable solution for the future of transportation.
This milestone is built on a foundation of safety that is now, says Waymo, statistically superior to human driving. Across 127 million miles of fully autonomous operation – the equivalent of going to the moon and back over 260 times – we have achieved a 90% reduction in serious injury crashes. This is the direct result of a driver that is never affected by the leading causes of road tragedy, including distraction, impairment, and fatigue.
This infusion of capital will ensure we are positioned to move forward with unprecedented velocity, while maintaining our industry-leading safety standards. Our focus is now on global scale, bringing the safety and magic of the Waymo Driver to even more cities this year across the United States and internationally. From our recent launch in Miami to the new markets ahead, we are expanding our fleet and our world-class team to meet an exploding global demand for autonomous mobility.
“As a technology leader in the trillion dollar transportation market, Waymo has moved beyond research milestones to achieve operational excellence, tripling its weekly paid rides in just one year while maintaining customer delight,” said Konstantine Buhler, Partner at Sequoia.
“Waymo is an exceptional business, leveraging its compounding data advantage to usher in a new era of transportation and a safety culture that can save millions of lives. We’re excited to partner with Tekedra, Dmitri and team as they expand the magic of the Waymo Driver to 20 additional cities and beyond.”
(Picture: Waymo)
