Waymo raises $16B to scale robotaxi fleet internationally

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, has raised $16 billion in a funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at $126 billion. Alphabet remains the majority investor, with additional participation from major firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Mubadala Capital, and Tiger Global. The capital will support Waymo’s aggressive expansion plans to scale its driverless taxi fleet internationally, targeting over 20 new cities in 2026, including major global hubs like London and Tokyo. Domestically, Waymo has rapidly grown its robotaxi service across several U.S. metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Miami, and Atlanta, providing around 400,000 rides weekly and surpassing 20 million rides in total. Since its early testing phase in Phoenix, Waymo has transitioned from a proof-of-concept to a commercial operation, notably receiving permits in California in 2023 that allowed it to