Alphabet's (GOOGL.US) self-driving car unit Waymo is now valued at over $45 billion, according to reports.
1min read Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo is now worth more than $45bn after raising $5.6bn in a new funding round last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Waymo announced on Friday that it had raised $5.6bn to expand its self-driving taxi service beyond Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix, where it is currently operating. The round was led by Alphabet and included investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T.Rowe Price.
The latest round brings Waymo's total funding to $11.1bn, having raised $3.2bn and $2.5bn in its previous two rounds. Ruth Porat, Alphabet's chief financial officer, said in July that the company would invest more than $5bn in Waymo.
Waymo is one of the leading companies in the self-driving taxi industry. It currently offers more than 150,000 rides a week in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, up from about 50,000 in May, through its Waymo One app.
Waymo also has a partnership with Uber. The two companies plan to launch self-driving taxi services through Uber's app in Austin and Atlanta next year. Waymo will continue to be mainly responsible for testing and operating the vehicles, including roadside assistance and some passenger support functions.
By raising external capital, Alphabet is insulating itself from the potential negative effects of regulatory hurdles in the self-driving industry. Meanwhile, Waymo is facing competition from rivals such as Tesla, which announced plans to mass-produce its self-driving taxi Cybertruck in 2026 and launch autonomous ride services in Texas and California in 2025. Zoox, an Amazon subsidiary, said it would launch dozens of self-driving taxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas in the coming weeks, and its chief technology officer, Jesse Levinson, said it would start mass production in 2026.
