Waymo Seeks $16 Billion Funding at Nearly $110 Billion Valuation

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Waymo, the autonomous driving unit of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), is preparing a major financing round that could raise about $16 billion and value the business at nearly $110 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions. Alphabet is expected to contribute roughly $13 billion of the funding, with the remainder coming from outside investors including Sequoia Capital, DST Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Mubadala Capital. The round could close as soon as February, following an October 2024 funding that valued Waymo at more than $45 billion and was led by Alphabet, which also owns Google.

Waymo currently operates fully autonomous ride-hailing services without a human safety monitor and charges fares in around half a dozen US cities, including the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, as well as rides booked through Uber’s app in Austin and Atlanta. The company said it has completed more than 20 million trips and remains focused on safety-led operational execution and technological leadership as it looks to meet what it describes as strong demand for autonomous mobility. Waymo plans to expand its commercial service aggressively this year to additional US cities and possibly into the UK.

The fundraising effort comes as competition in autonomous ride-hailing continues to intensify. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is planning its own robotaxi service and has limited autonomous operations without a safety monitor in Austin, while Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Zoox operates a purpose-built robotaxi without driver controls on the Las Vegas Strip and is testing in other areas near San Francisco. Bloomberg reported in December that Waymo was seeking to raise around $15 billion at a valuation above $100 billion, suggesting investor interest could be building as multiple players position themselves for scale in autonomous transportation.