Waymo’s latest funding round raises it to $45B

Waymo recently closed a $5.6 billion Series C funding round led by parent company Alphabet and joined by a who’s who of Silicon Valley venture capital firms. The investment boosts Waymo’s value to more than $45 billion, according to Bloomberg News.

Alphabet previously announced in July that it was pledging an additional $5 billion to Waymo, but was mum on details, saying only that it was a “multi-year” commitment. Andreesen Horowitz, Silver Lake, Fidelity, Tiger Global, Perry Creek, and T. Rowe Price all joined the cycle. Waymo declined to say how much each person invested.

It’s Waymo’s second external fundraising round, and the first since a $2.25 billion Series B in 2020 that eventually grew to $3.2 billion. The private car company says it will use the funds to expand into new cities and improve its autonomous capabilities for “business applications.”

Waymo is a very different company now than it was when it raised that last round. At the time, the company was deliberately plowing into the private truck effort that it has since withdrawn from.

The company has instead put almost all of its focus on its robotaxi ride service. The bet is paid. Waymo now operates robotics services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and is expanding to Austin and Atlanta. It offers premium rides to more than 100,000 customers per week in all three primary markets and offers round-trip transportation to and from the Phoenix airport. It also operates highways in the Phoenix and San Francisco areas.

This story has been updated to include the new valuation reported by Waymo following the funding announcement.