Waymo raises $16bn ahead of London launch
Alphabet-owned Waymo has raised $16bn (£12.6bn), valuing the self driving vehicle company at $126bn, as its London launch edges closer.
The investment round, led by Dragoneer, DST Global and Sequoia, comes as the firm steps up preparations for its UK debut, with its cars already spotted testing on the streets of the capital.
London is expected to be one of more than 20 new cities the firm enters globally through 2026, alongside Tokyo.
Waymo said the funding reflects the firm’s shift from experimentation to scale, after tripling annual ride volume to 15 million last year.
The firm now runs over 400,000 paid robotaxi trips a week across six American cities.
What’s more, it has logged 127 million autonomous miles to date, and claims a 90 per cent reduction in serious injury crashes compared with human drivers.
Self-driving cars hit London
On this side of the pond, ministers have publicly backed autonomous vehicle trials as a way to modernise transport and attract global tech investment.
They have also claimed the capital’s congestion charges and low-emission zones offer a good proving ground for such vehicles.
The firm has confirmed it is testing vehicles in the city ahead of a planned passenger launch, which would make the UK its second international market after Japan.
But the London push is unfolding under a cloud of US regulatory scrutiny, with Waymo facing investigations by US safety watchdogs after incidents involving school buses in Texas.
The scandal prompted a voluntary software update covering over 3,000 of its vehicles.
And while the firm claims no collisions occured and insists its system outperforms human drivers, the probes will be closely watched by UK regulators weighing approval.
The funding round also resurrects speculation about Waymo’s long-term future inside Google parent Alphabet, which now carries a market value of over $4tn.
Just five years ago, Waymo was valued at around $30bn, but today’s price tag underlines how central autonomous driving has become to Big Tech’s growth story.
Competition is also intensifying, with Tesla pushing ahead with its own robotaxi ambitions.
Meanwhile Amazon-backed Zoox is expanding pilots in US cities.